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Comet

Leonard

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486P/Leonard

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.885 AU
True anomaly
121.4°
Distance from Earth
3.259 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 — 3.885 AU from the Sun Leonard
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Leonard is 3.259 AU from Earth today (27.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
05h 46m 23s
Declination
+21° 52′ 28″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
3.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
122.82° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.629 AU
Eccentricity
0.364
Inclination
2.21°
Orbital period
6.91 years
Perihelion
2.308 AU
Aphelion
4.95 AU
Longitude of ascending node
219.03°
Argument of periapsis
93.97°
Epoch · J2000
2460238.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 503.8 LD
1.2945 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.988

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
737
Data arc
7.6 years
First observed
8 June 2018
Last observed
13 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.8
14.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 486P · 486P/2018 L5 · 486P/2024 H1

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2062-03-21 06:35:00 Juptr 1.9132 AU 744.5 LD 6.8 km/s
2097-09-01 04:41:00 Jupiter 0.4266 AU 166.0 LD 2.8 km/s
2097-09-01 04:41:00 Juptr 0.4266 AU 166.0 LD 2.8 km/s
2134-01-14 23:54:00 Jupiter 0.2029 AU 79.0 LD 3.3 km/s
2134-01-14 23:54:00 Juptr 0.2029 AU 79.0 LD 3.3 km/s

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

Sources