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Comet

Lemmon

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C/2024 J4 (Lemmon)

Lemmon is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 5.7 AU to 12,607.02 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 500,813.7 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 22 October 2026.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.887 AU
True anomaly
49.17°
Distance from Earth
7.862 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 — 6.887 AU from the Sun Lemmon
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Lemmon is 7.862 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 25m 31s
Declination
-06° 31′ 53″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
7.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
10.95° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
6,306.359 AU
Eccentricity
0.9991
Inclination
117.53°
Orbital period
500,813.7 years
Perihelion
5.695 AU
Aphelion
12,607.023 AU
Longitude of ascending node
19.31°
Argument of periapsis
127.86°
Epoch · J2000
2460848.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,932.0 LD
4.9643 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.367

Orbit quality

Observations used
879
Data arc
813 days
First observed
11 May 2024
Last observed
2 August 2026
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
11.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2024 J4

Named

Sources