Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Lemmon

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/2012 F6 (Lemmon)

Lemmon is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.73 AU to 973.55 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 10,752 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
31.082 AU
True anomaly
162.63°
Distance from Earth
31.145 AU
As of
25 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 Lemmon — 31.082 AU from the Sun Lemmon
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Lemmon is 31.145 AU from Earth today (4.3 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 17m 43s
Declination
+73° 07′ 51″
Constellation
Ursa Minor
Distance from Earth
31.15 AU
Elongation from the Sun
85.48° — 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
487.14 AU
Eccentricity
0.9985
Inclination
82.61°
Orbital period
10,752 years
Perihelion
0.731 AU
Aphelion
973.549 AU
Longitude of ascending node
332.72°
Argument of periapsis
304.99°
Epoch · J2000
2456502.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 28.2 LD
0.0724 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.147

Orbit quality

Observations used
3,201
Data arc
2.72 years
First observed
22 January 2012
Last observed
13 October 2014
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.8
5.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2012 F6

Named

Sources