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Comets » 

Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -16.00°   Az: 176.32°   Direction: South

Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) is in the constellation of Grus, at a distance of 949,460,912.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 26m 13s and the Declination is -54° 23’ 55” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) is 19.71 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) in Grus on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) in Grus on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS)
RA: 23h 24m 49s
Dec: -54° 32’ 13”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 26m 13s
-54° 23’ 55”
23h 35m 40s
23h 01m 53s

J2000

23h 24m 49s
-54° 32’ 13”

Additional Information

Grus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.71

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) is not visible from Greenwich, UK

  • C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) from Earth is currently 949,460,912.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.3467541855 Astronomical Units. Light takes 52m 47.061s to travel from Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) and arrive to us.

949,460,912.0
6.3467541855
52m 47.061s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) to Earth happens on Fri Feb 24 2023 at a distance of 3.242344 Astronomical Units, or 485,047,757 kilometers:

Fri Feb 24 2023
485,047,757
3.242344

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS), according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) at epoch 11 November 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459895.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99608883
Orbit inclination i 88.35208848°
Perihelion distance q 3.70335883 AU
554,014,597 km
Aphelion distance Q 1,890.03348151 AU
282,744,984,953 km
Semi-major axis a 946.86842017 AU
141,649,499,775 km
Orbital period period 29,136.8535 years
10,642,235.7487 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2023-Sep-28 20:11:11
2,460,216.3411 JD
Next perihelion transit 31161-Mar-12 14:09
13,102,452.0898 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 234.84874838255°
Longitude of the ascending node node 325.48381377306°
Mean anomaly M 359.98914675458°
Mean motion n 0.00003383°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS)
View Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 11 23h 21m 09s -55° 28’ 50” 19.65 Grus
2025 Feb 12 23h 21m 50s -55° 19’ 52” 19.66 Grus
2025 Feb 13 23h 22m 30s -55° 11’ 02” 19.66 Grus
2025 Feb 14 23h 23m 10s -55° 02’ 19” 19.67 Grus
2025 Feb 15 23h 23m 50s -54° 53’ 41” 19.68 Grus
2025 Feb 16 23h 24m 30s -54° 45’ 09” 19.69 Grus
2025 Feb 17 23h 25m 11s -54° 36’ 44” 19.69 Grus
2025 Feb 18 23h 25m 51s -54° 28’ 25” 19.70 Grus
2025 Feb 19 23h 26m 32s -54° 20’ 13” 19.71 Grus
2025 Feb 20 23h 27m 12s -54° 12’ 06” 19.72 Grus
2025 Feb 21 23h 27m 52s -54° 04’ 06” 19.72 Grus
2025 Feb 22 23h 28m 33s -53° 56’ 12” 19.73 Phoenix
2025 Feb 23 23h 29m 13s -53° 48’ 25” 19.74 Phoenix
2025 Feb 24 23h 29m 54s -53° 40’ 44” 19.74 Phoenix

Additional Resources