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Sunrise: 4:51 
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Comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 16:15 | Tran: 19:30 | Set: 22:47
Alt: 9.74°   Az: 194.92°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon) is in the constellation of Hydra, at a distance of 604,474,040.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 13h 26m 57s and the Declination is -27° 25’ 59” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 18.20).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon) in the constellation of Hydra on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon) in the constellation of Hydra 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 S4 (Lemmon) 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 S4 (Lemmon)
RA: 13h 25m 32s
Dec: -27° 18’ 03”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

13h 26m 57s
-27° 25’ 59”
01h 06m 27s
14h 33m 24s

J2000

13h 25m 32s
-27° 18’ 03”

Additional Information

Hydra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
18.20

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 S4 (Lemmon) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 117.5°
Max altitude: 11.1°
Azimuth: 242.6°

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 S4 (Lemmon) from Earth is currently 604,474,040.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.0406593835 Astronomical Units. Light takes 33m 36.308s to travel from comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon) and arrive to us.

604,474,040.0
4.0406593835
33m 36.308s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon) 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 S4 (Lemmon) 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 S4 (Lemmon) 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 S4 (Lemmon) to Earth happened on Sunday 28 July 2024 at a distance of 2.751159 Astronomical Units, or 411,567,500 kilometers:

Sunday 28 July 2024
411,567,500
2.751159

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 S4 (Lemmon), 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 S4 (Lemmon) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon) at epoch August, 23 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460180.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99966438
Orbit inclination i 101.21442547°
Perihelion distance q 2.76393668 AU
413,479,042 km
Aphelion distance Q 16,467.87151015 AU
2,463,558,517,820 km
Semi-major axis a 8,235.31772341 AU
1,231,985,998,431 km
Orbital period period 747,358.0917 years
272,972,542.9896 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp July 18, 2024
2,460,509.7998 JD
Next perihelion transit December 25, 749397
275,433,052.7893 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 268.4434320468°
Longitude of the ascending node node 220.17257787°
Mean anomaly M 359.99956571487°
Mean motion n 0.00000132°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/2022 S4 (Lemmon) 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 S4 (Lemmon) 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 28 2025 13h 26m 49s -29° 09’ 17” 18.06 Hydra
Jun 29 2025 13h 26m 46s -28° 55’ 20” 18.08 Hydra
Jun 30 2025 13h 26m 45s -28° 41’ 37” 18.10 Hydra
Jul 01 2025 13h 26m 45s -28° 28’ 06” 18.11 Hydra
Jul 02 2025 13h 26m 46s -28° 14’ 48” 18.13 Hydra
Jul 03 2025 13h 26m 47s -28° 01’ 43” 18.15 Hydra
Jul 04 2025 13h 26m 49s -27° 48’ 50” 18.16 Hydra
Jul 05 2025 13h 26m 53s -27° 36’ 11” 18.18 Hydra
Jul 06 2025 13h 26m 57s -27° 23’ 43” 18.20 Hydra
Jul 07 2025 13h 27m 03s -27° 11’ 29” 18.21 Hydra
Jul 08 2025 13h 27m 09s -26° 59’ 27” 18.23 Hydra
Jul 09 2025 13h 27m 16s -26° 47’ 37” 18.25 Hydra
Jul 10 2025 13h 27m 25s -26° 35’ 59” 18.26 Hydra
Jul 11 2025 13h 27m 34s -26° 24’ 34” 18.28 Hydra

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