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Comet

Leonard

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C/2023 A1 (Leonard)

Leonard is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.83 AU to 457.09 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 3,476 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 13 April 2024.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
11.569 AU
True anomaly
133.6°
Distance from Earth
11.426 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 Leonard — 11.569 AU from the Sun Leonard
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Leonard is 11.426 AU from Earth today (1.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 49m 13s
Declination
-72° 13′ 14″
Constellation
Hydrus
Distance from Earth
11.44 AU
Elongation from the Sun
95.52° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
229.464 AU
Eccentricity
0.992
Inclination
94.74°
Orbital period
3,476 years
Perihelion
1.835 AU
Aphelion
457.093 AU
Longitude of ascending node
318.31°
Argument of periapsis
159.25°
Epoch · J2000
2460009.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 346.5 LD
0.8903 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.116

Orbit quality

Observations used
453
Data arc
152 days
First observed
15 December 2022
Last observed
16 May 2023
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 April 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 37
6.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2023 A1

Named

Sources