<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UdQzA0NICX8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I love this thread.

Comet Leonard looks to be the best of the year, and it's visible now

It's likely the brightest comet of 2021. You might be able to see it with binoculars before the next sunrise.

After several months of anticipation, the most promising comet for skywatchers this year is finally drawing closer and more visible.

At the beginning of 2021, researcher Greg Leonard discovered Comet C/2021 A1, now better known as Comet Leonard. At the time, it was heading in our direction from deep space, with the potential to be the brightest comet of the year.

No other superstar comets with the ability to outshine Leonard have emerged just yet, so it looks as if luminous Lenny will fulfill its potential in the coming month.

"There are chances to easily see this comet by naked eye, even if under less than optimal conditions," wrote astronomer Gianluca Masi with the Virtual Telescope Project, based in Italy.

Of course, comets are infamously fickle about their plans and can disintegrate to almost nothing at just about any time as they draw closer to the sun.

But if Leonard survives and lives up to astronomers' most optimistic predictions, the big space snowball will pass near Earth in December when it may be visible with binoculars or possibly even without them. From there it makes a close pass by the sun and heads back out to deep space in January.

A number of astrophotographers have already managed to snap some pretty impressive shots of Leonard sporting a green coma with spiffy extended tail.

It likely won't be possible to see Leonard without lenses until at least the middle of December, but you may be able to catch it with binoculars already. For the next few weeks, it's visible primarily in the early morning hours before sunrise. As the year starts to wind down, you should be able to spot it in evening skies.

To see what has at least a chance of being a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic event, I recommend putting your location into a tracking app or website like TheSkyLive to get the best times and which direction to look. For folks in North America like me, mark your calendars for Dec. 14, which is right after the comet passes by Earth and when it will become visible just above the horizon after sunset for many viewers.

While we can't say for sure just yet what kind of show Leonard will put on, we do know that this will be our only chance to see it close up: Its journey here from deep space is estimated to have taken about 35,000 years.

Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard
https://spaceweathergallery.com/full...1638307313.jpg

Anyone else watch the Neutron reveal? Thought it seemed pretty interesting. I like the idea of an enclosed 2nd stage. Kind of like just upscaling their kickstage units with massive tanks.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A0thW57QeDM" title="YouTube video player" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Starlink launch is coming up in a couple of minutes. Could be some pretty nice views if the sun hits right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594TbXriaAk

Saw a string of starlinks overhead tonight. It's pretty entertaining listening to people, who don't know what they are looking at, speculate on what they are seeing.

Science satellite for NASA is going up in an hour.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpaceX</a> Falcon 9 carrying the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IXPE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IXPE</a> spacecraft is vertical on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASAKennedy</a>. Launch is scheduled for 1:00 a.m. EST on Dec. 9 More [emoji328]: <a href="https://t.co/B2M5EHTJBT">https://t.co/B2M5EHTJBT</a> <a href="https://t.co/bokzegxzx7">pic.twitter.com/bokzegxzx7</a></p>— NASA HQ PHOTO (@nasahqphoto) <a href="https://twitter.com/nasahqphoto/status/1468570954267828226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Saw on the news where Michael Strahan is going on the next trip . I think it was scheduled for today but postponed to Saturday.

Ohh please let this work...

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Is Fueled for Late December Launch

After some two decades of development, the orbital observatory is set to at last reach space on December 22

The new James Webb Space Telescope is topped off and one step closer to taking flight.

Mission team members have finished fueling the James Webb Space Telescope at ahead of its planned Dec. 22 launch from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, the European Space Agency announced Monday (Dec. 6). The fueling for Webb, which is an international collaborative effort between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency, took 10 days and was completed on Dec. 3, according to the ESA statement.

After a series of delays since the development of the scope first began in 1996, Webb is still on track to finally launch Dec. 22 atop an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.

"Webb's propellant tanks were filled separately with [21 gallons] 79.5 l of dinitrogen tetroxide oxidizer and [42 gallons] 159 l hydrazine," the ESA wrote in the announcement, adding that the oxidizer "improves the burn efficiency of the hydrazine fuel."

[...]

Webb is destined for a location in space 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) away known as L2, a Lagrange point or a stable gravitational location in space. Upon arrival, the telescope will spend six months in a "commissioning period" during which the team will ensure that it unfolded correctly and its instruments are working correctly.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Getting closer to white-knuckle time! <a href="https://twitter.com/esa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@esa</a> says the James Webb Space Telescope has been moved to the building where it will be stacked on top of the Ariane 5 rocket. Launch is still scheduled for Dec. 22.<a href="https://t.co/Bm3rqDkAxD">https://t.co/Bm3rqDkAxD</a> <a href="https://t.co/9roiCyDrFs">pic.twitter.com/9roiCyDrFs</a></p>&mdash; Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) <a href="https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1468963482376630288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It won't. They couldn't have designed a more complicated vehicle. It's an abomination of big-space funding.

Expand on this, please.

Gives me chills...

ISS Spacewalk. Spoilered for autoplay.

I agree with him on the "complicated" part, and it did require far more time and money than they were expecting.

I'm not sure they could have done better given the lofty goals, though. If it works, it will be as much of a leap forward as Hubble was.

Someone should make a VR ride out of that.