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Comets » 

Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 8:05 | Tran: 11:28 | Set: 14:50
Alt: -12.96°   Az: 116.68°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Hydra, at a distance of 603,997,965.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 09h 55m 55s and the Declination is -26° 37’ 09” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) is 14.73 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder chart of C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) in Hydra on September,12 2024
Map showing Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) in Hydra on September, 12 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

09h 55m 55s
-26° 37’ 09”
18h 52m 24s
04h 48m 19s

J2000

09h 54m 47s
-26° 30’ 05”

Additional Information

Hydra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
14.73

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 L2 (ATLAS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 116.6°
Max altitude: 11.9°
Azimuth: 243.3°
  • C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 20 inches (500mm) or more.
  • 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.

Finder Charts

Finder chart of C/2022 L2 (ATLAS)
Sky map showing Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) in Hydra on September, 12 2024. Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2022 L2 (ATLAS)
RA: 09h 54m 47s
Dec: -26° 30’ 05”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 603,997,965.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.0374770187 Astronomical Units. Light takes 33m 34.720s to travel from Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

603,997,965.0
4.0374770187
33m 34.720s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2022 L2 (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 L2 (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 L2 (ATLAS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Fri Apr 5 2024 at a distance of 1.811538 Astronomical Units, or 271,002,177 kilometers:

Fri Apr 5 2024
271,002,177
1.811538

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 L2 (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 L2 (ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) at epoch 07 August 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459799.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00099241
Orbit inclination i 129.31204716°
Perihelion distance q 2.69137057 AU
402,623,307 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2024-Mar-12 10:11:52
2,460,381.9249 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 199.97530536925°
Longitude of the ascending node node 39.247476456006°
Mean anomaly M -0.0040645979433483°
Mean motion n 0.00000698°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS)
View Comet C/2022 L2 (ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2022 L2 (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
2024 Sep 05 09h 54m 51s -25° 43’ 41” 14.67 Hydra
2024 Sep 06 09h 55m 01s -25° 50’ 45” 14.68 Hydra
2024 Sep 07 09h 55m 11s -25° 57’ 55” 14.69 Hydra
2024 Sep 08 09h 55m 20s -26° 05’ 12” 14.70 Hydra
2024 Sep 09 09h 55m 29s -26° 12’ 35” 14.71 Hydra
2024 Sep 10 09h 55m 37s -26° 20’ 05” 14.71 Hydra
2024 Sep 11 09h 55m 46s -26° 27’ 43” 14.72 Hydra
2024 Sep 12 09h 55m 53s -26° 35’ 25” 14.73 Hydra
2024 Sep 13 09h 56m 01s -26° 43’ 14” 14.74 Hydra
2024 Sep 14 09h 56m 08s -26° 51’ 10” 14.75 Hydra
2024 Sep 15 09h 56m 14s -26° 59’ 11” 14.76 Hydra
2024 Sep 16 09h 56m 21s -27° 07’ 19” 14.77 Hydra
2024 Sep 17 09h 56m 26s -27° 15’ 33” 14.78 Antlia
2024 Sep 18 09h 56m 32s -27° 23’ 53” 14.78 Antlia

Additional Resources