C/2021 A1 (Leonard)

12/3/2021

I got up before 2AM this morning to drive about 45 miles North to the Whiteside Conservation Area where I met up with 7 others to view and image Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1). The sky was very clear this morning. Attendees were Jack Gillette, Tan N. & Miranda, Frank K & girlfriend, Fred Zimmer, Dan Graham, and myself. All but myself were imaging.

Currently still a binocular comet, about mag 6. It was high in the Eastern sky and showed well (tail and all) in 10x50 binoculars around 5:15AM (not as well earlier when lower). Next time out I will drag the camera and tripod. Today I brought 3 binoculars (10x50, 15x70, and 25x100) and an 8” dobsonian telescope (@48x). I drew the view in the big binos as I enjoyed it the most. It moved noticeably in about 30 minutes. Tonight's forecast may be the best we see for the coming week unfortunately. Peak may be the mornings of Dec 8-11.

12/16/2021

Now an evening object. I viewed the comet (alone) from the parking lot at the base of the DOE Mound at Weldon Springs. It had a very clear Southwestern horizon. I had expected the comet to be best viewed around 5:20pm ("about 45 minutes after sunset") but by 5:38 pm I had seen nothing. Almost ready to give up when I spotted a smudge in the 25x100s right where it was supposed to be, left (South/Southeast) of the "Teaspoon" asterism in Sagittarius. That was at 5:42pm CST. By 5:47 it was showing some detail, and it became visible as a smudge in my 10x50s. By the time I finished a rough drawing it was 5:52 pm and the detail was lost due to atmospheric extinction. The comet was still about 5* above the local horizon, so I had room to spare. Estimated mag. 4.

The glow of twilight prevented it from being dark enough to properly view the tail. It would sure help for it to be higher in the sky at sunset, so that it could be viewed against a darker sky background.