Look up to see bright Comet Leonard this month before it vanishes forever

There is a new comet in town, and December is your only chance to see it before it disappears forever. Astronomers say that Comet Leonard is our best and brightest to see in 2021.

The comet was first discovered in January by astronomer Greg Leonard. The celestial object has likely spent the last 35,000 years travelling toward the sun, according to Sky & Telescope, and once it makes a close pass of our star on January 3, we won't be seeing the comet again.

As the comet nears the sun, it brightens, which is why the weeks leading up to this event make the comet easier to see.

It's also an ultrafast comet, blazing through the inner solar system at 158,084 miles per hour (71 kilometres per second), but it will still appear like a slow-moving object due to its distance from Earth, according to EarthSky.

Comet Leonard will make it closest approach to Earth on December 12, coming within 21 million miles (34 million kilometres) of our planet. Then, it will sweep by Venus on December 18.