RIP Comet Leonard: Brightest comet of 2021 to pass Earth has disintegrated

Last year, the brightest comet passed near the Earth has crossed the farthest orbit of the Sun. in January 2022 the object hit the Sun after crossing Earth. Comet Leonard has lost its core nucleus and its coma that makes up the temporary atmosphere, according to EarthSky magazine.

The comet was discovered by astronomer Gregory J Leonard in January 2021. Officially named C/2021 A1. A long-period comet, Leonard was coming from as far as a mind-boggling 553512121590 kilometres, which is its aphelion or distance farthest from the sun. For comparison, the distance is 3,700 times the distance between Earth and Sun, otherwise called an Astronomical Unit (AU). The orbit of comet Leonard around the sun takes 80,000 years. The comet was closest to the Sun on January 3, 2022.

When Leonard was spotted, it’s position in the sky was in the centre of the galaxy NGC 4631 (nicknamed Whale galaxy). 

"[F]or me this comet and its apparition have been an unimagined dream come true," Leonard wrote in an email to EarthSky. 

Talking about the demise of the comet, Leonard said, "I don’t mind the fact that it may have disintegrated. With its post-perihelion hyperbolic orbit, I once imagined the comet sometime in the deep future haunting another solar system. Now with its nucleus possibly disintegrated, it may more strangely appear as a ghostly, hyperbolic wisp of dust and gas if that."