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Comet

Leonard

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449P/Leonard

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.147 AU
True anomaly
255.61°
Distance from Earth
3.056 AU
As of
22 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Leonard — 3.147 AU from the Sun Leonard
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Leonard is 3.056 AU from Earth today (25.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 37m 49s
Declination
-06° 10′ 58″
Constellation
Aquila
Distance from Earth
3.06 AU
Elongation from the Sun
85.76° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
3.598 AU
Eccentricity
0.479
Inclination
15.46°
Orbital period
6.83 years
Perihelion
1.875 AU
Aphelion
5.322 AU
Longitude of ascending node
242.57°
Argument of periapsis
176.65°
Epoch · J2000
2459142.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 345.3 LD
0.8872 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.853

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
294
Data arc
34.11 years
First observed
5 January 1987
Last observed
13 February 2021
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
25 February 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 37.8
8.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 449P · 449P/1987 A2 · 449P/2013 Y3 · 449P/2020 S6

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-05-10 09:32:00 Juptr 1.0496 AU 408.5 LD 6.5 km/s
2065-12-10 08:34:00 Juptr 0.8624 AU 335.6 LD 6 km/s
2090-05-31 18:51:00 Juptr 1.5715 AU 611.6 LD 7.4 km/s
2125-06-06 12:44:00 Juptr 0.074 AU 28.8 LD 6.5 km/s
2125-06-06 12:44:00 Jupiter 0.074 AU 28.8 LD 6.5 km/s
2130-12-10 12:36:00 Juptr 0.7481 AU 291.1 LD 5.3 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources