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Comet

LONEOS

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C/2000 S3 (LONEOS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
19.29 AU
True anomaly
192°
Distance from Earth
20.051 AU
As of
24 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth LONEOS — 19.29 AU from the Sun LONEOS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LONEOS is 20.051 AU from Earth today (2.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 15m 35s
Declination
+18° 11′ 35″
Constellation
Coma Berenices
Distance from Earth
20.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
39.37° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
11.691 AU
Eccentricity
0.7723
Inclination
25.16°
Orbital period
39.98 years
Perihelion
2.662 AU
Aphelion
20.72 AU
Longitude of ascending node
41.15°
Argument of periapsis
298.27°
Epoch · J2000
2451841.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 685.7 LD
1.7618 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.169

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
33
Data arc
98 days
First observed
20 September 2000
Last observed
27 December 2000
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 21.8
7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2000 S3

Named

Sources