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Comet Near-Earth

Leonard

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P/2026 R2 (Leonard)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.79 AU
True anomaly
357.61°
Distance from Earth
0.567 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 — 0.79 AU from the Sun Leonard
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Leonard is 0.567 AU from Earth today (4.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 32m 05s
Declination
-54° 57′ 02″
Constellation
Norma
Distance from Earth
0.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
52.51° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
7.799 AU
Eccentricity
0.8988
Inclination
78.1°
Orbital period
21.78 years
Perihelion
0.79 AU
Aphelion
14.808 AU
Longitude of ascending node
179.23°
Argument of periapsis
205.53°
Epoch · J2000
2461307.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 67.1 LD
0.1724 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.889

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
807
Data arc
27 days
First observed
14 September 2026
Last observed
11 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.8
18.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2026 R2

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 1 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-05-01 00:20:00 Juptr 1.0576 AU 411.6 LD 17.2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources