The space guest showed a double tail

Astronomers are watching Comet Leonard, which is approaching the Earth and will come as close as possible on December 12. The double structure of the comet's tail is already visible in the image taken by the Austrian photographer Michael Yeghera.

In reality, comet tails always have two components, it's just that if the comet is too far away from the observer, the two tails merge into one.

The ion tail is more straight, formed by the interaction of the solar wind with the coma gas and directed exactly in the opposite direction from the Sun. The dust tail is heavier and has a more curved shape due to the movement of the comet in its orbit.

On Sunday, December 12, during the rendezvous, the distance between the space guest and the Earth will be 335 million kilometers. Then, on December 18, the comet will approach Venus at a record close distance - less than 4.3 million kilometers. And on December 19, it will even touch the planet with its dust tail, which is why a meteor shower is possible in the upper Venusian clouds.