Christmas Comet Leonard: How to see rare Xmas space event with December dates revealed

THE BRIGHTEST comet of 2021 is heading our way and it should be visible in time for some Christmas stargazing.

Astronomers have high hopes that Comet Leonard will be the best of the year and you may be able to spot it without binoculars.

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How to see Christmas Comet Leonard

The comet should be closest to Earth and super bright on December 12.

If you want to start looking out for it sooner, it’s best viewed about 90 minutes before sunrise and above the horizon in early December.

Some astronomers have already been photographing it through telescopes.

If you’re in North America, mark your calendar for December 14 as that should be the best time for you to spot Comet Leonard on the early evening horizon.

Unfortunately for stargazers in the UK, it may be more difficult to spot around the time of its closest approach.

This is due to its low position on the south-eastern horizon before twilight.

UK viewers are better looking in the mornings around 4am GMT before December 10.

By December 14, stargazers in North America and the Southern Hemisphere can start looking for the comet above the horizon after sunset.

On December 17, they’ll be a chance for some stargazers to spot it just below Venus in the evening sky.

Some lucky viewers will even be able to see the comet on Christmas Day on the southwest horizon after sunset.

Comet Leonard has its own Twitter account, which can update you with its current movements.

The shooting star has been on a 35,000 year journey from deep space to reach us.

Next month will be one of your only chances to see it up close.

There is a possibility that the comet could disintegrate to almost nothing before it reaches its closest approach to the Sun on January 3, 2022.

That’s why you may want to start looking for it sooner rather than later, even if it means getting a pair of binoculars.

You’ll also need to look at a time when the sky is clear and be in a place with very little light pollution.

After Comet Leonard visits the Sun, it will head back into deep space.

Is Comet Leonard a ‘Doomsday comet’?

A bible scholar previously claimed to have decoded scriptures that reveal Comet Leonard will imminently herald the Apocalypse — as it’s set to arrive around Christmas time.

David S. Heeren, who has spent 16 years studying ‘holy passages’, claims to have found 200 clues that the period leading to the Second Coming and the end times will be marked by the space phenomena.

Heeren’s investigation, which he outlines in his book High Signs, began after reading the text of Isaiah, which depicts great visions given to the prophet.

During his research he noted scores of images of comets which came before major events.

In other news, Nasa has plans to put a nuclear power plant on the Moon within this decade.

Android users are being warned to update their phone’s privacy settings after a new update could leave their devices vulnerable.

And, scientists are using the winds on Mars to map out the first complete picture of how it was formed three billion years ago.

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk