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Comet

Leonard

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C/2022 U1 (Leonard)

Leonard is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 4.2 AU to 13,245.18 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 539,208.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 28 October 2025.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.395 AU
True anomaly
89.96°
Distance from Earth
9.091 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 Leonard — 8.395 AU from the Sun Leonard
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Leonard is 9.091 AU from Earth today (1.3 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 58m 49s
Declination
-14° 22′ 52″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
9.1 AU
Elongation from the Sun
42.78° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
6,624.693 AU
Eccentricity
0.9994
Inclination
128.15°
Orbital period
539,208.6 years
Perihelion
4.202 AU
Aphelion
13,245.184 AU
Longitude of ascending node
72.53°
Argument of periapsis
78.59°
Epoch · J2000
2460431.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,411.9 LD
3.628 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.569

Orbit quality

Observations used
1,325
Data arc
2.9 years
First observed
23 September 2022
Last observed
18 August 2025
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 October 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7
10.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2022 U1

Named

Sources