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public  Hetian, China Hetian, China  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Shanghai
Sunrise: 5:28 
Transit: 12:18 
Sunset: 19:08
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Comets » 

Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 2:07 | Tran: 5:32 | Set: 9:01
Alt: -25.94°   Az: 138.04°   Direction: South-East

Comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) is in the constellation of Phoenix, at a distance of 903,403,100.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 00h 06m 38s and the Declination is -52° 23’ 23” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 20.04).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) in the constellation of Phoenix on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) in the constellation of Phoenix on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS)
RA: 00h 05m 21s
Dec: -52° 31’ 54”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

00h 06m 38s
-52° 23’ 23”
17h 20m 30s
17h 27m 09s

J2000

00h 05m 21s
-52° 31’ 54”

Additional Information

Phoenix
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
20.04

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) from Hetian, China (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Shanghai):

Azimuth: 142.4°
Max altitude: 11.9°
Azimuth: 217.7°

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 903,403,100.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.0388767285 Astronomical Units. Light takes 50m 13.428s to travel from comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) and arrive to us.

903,403,100.0
6.0388767285
50m 13.428s

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

Chart of the distance of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

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 tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) to Earth happened on Friday 24 February 2023 at a distance of 3.242341 Astronomical Units, or 485,047,239 kilometers:

Friday 24 February 2023
485,047,239
3.242341

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

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 February, 24 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99596960
Orbit inclination i 88.34808727°
Perihelion distance q 3.70346222 AU
554,030,063 km
Aphelion distance Q 1,834.06001275 AU
274,371,473,194 km
Semi-major axis a 918.88173748 AU
137,462,751,628 km
Orbital period period 27,854.6453 years
10,173,909.1939 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp September 28, 2023
2,460,216.3406 JD
Next perihelion transit December 17, 29878
12,634,125.5345 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 234.84631264757°
Longitude of the ascending node node 325.48320273044°
Mean anomaly M 359.99236256103°
Mean motion n 0.00003538°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/2022 A3 (Lemmon-ATLAS) relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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
Jun 26 2025 00h 10m 00s -51° 46’ 25” 20.02 Phoenix
Jun 27 2025 00h 09m 37s -51° 51’ 10” 20.03 Phoenix
Jun 28 2025 00h 09m 13s -51° 55’ 58” 20.03 Phoenix
Jun 29 2025 00h 08m 49s -52° 00’ 48” 20.03 Phoenix
Jun 30 2025 00h 08m 22s -52° 05’ 39” 20.03 Phoenix
Jul 01 2025 00h 07m 55s -52° 10’ 31” 20.04 Phoenix
Jul 02 2025 00h 07m 27s -52° 15’ 25” 20.04 Phoenix
Jul 03 2025 00h 06m 57s -52° 20’ 20” 20.04 Phoenix
Jul 04 2025 00h 06m 27s -52° 25’ 16” 20.04 Phoenix
Jul 05 2025 00h 05m 55s -52° 30’ 12” 20.05 Phoenix
Jul 06 2025 00h 05m 22s -52° 35’ 09” 20.05 Phoenix
Jul 07 2025 00h 04m 48s -52° 40’ 06” 20.05 Phoenix
Jul 08 2025 00h 04m 13s -52° 45’ 03” 20.06 Phoenix
Jul 09 2025 00h 03m 37s -52° 50’ 00” 20.06 Phoenix

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