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Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -48.54°   Az: 134.37°   Direction: South-East

Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) is in the constellation of Reticulum, at a distance of 1,214,980,128.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 58m 59s and the Declination is -61° 00’ 15” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) is 44.46 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) in Reticulum on June, 09 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) in Reticulum on June, 09 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2023 A1 (Leonard)
RA: 03h 58m 33s
Dec: -61° 04’ 32”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

03h 58m 59s
-61° 00’ 15”
17h 10m 13s
21h 09m 12s

J2000

03h 58m 33s
-61° 04’ 32”

Additional Information

Reticulum
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
44.46

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/2023 A1 (Leonard) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) is not visible from Greenwich, UK

  • C/2023 A1 (Leonard) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2023 A1 (Leonard) 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/2023 A1 (Leonard) from Earth is currently 1,214,980,128.0 kilometers, equivalent to 8.1216405174 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 7m 32.737s to travel from Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) and arrive to us.

1,214,980,128.0
8.1216405174
1h 7m 32.737s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) 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/2023 A1 (Leonard) 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/2023 A1 (Leonard) 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/2023 A1 (Leonard) to Earth happens on Thu Mar 2 2023 at a distance of 1.186911 Astronomical Units, or 177,559,371 kilometers:

Thu Mar 2 2023
177,559,371
1.186911

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/2023 A1 (Leonard), 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/2023 A1 (Leonard) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) at epoch 05 March 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460009.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99200431
Orbit inclination i 94.74312069°
Perihelion distance q 1.83472458 AU
274,470,892 km
Aphelion distance Q 457.09342919 AU
68,380,203,855 km
Semi-major axis a 229.46407689 AU
34,327,337,373 km
Orbital period period 3,476.0039 years
1,269,610.4401 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2023-Mar-18 17:25:38
2,460,022.2261 JD
Next perihelion transit 5499-Apr-15 03:59
3,729,632.6663 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 159.24939717179°
Longitude of the ascending node node 318.30792642039°
Mean anomaly M 359.99639148383°
Mean motion n 0.00028355°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard)
View Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) 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 Jun 02 03h 54m 00s -60° 44’ 25” 44.35 Reticulum
2025 Jun 03 03h 54m 43s -60° 46’ 18” 44.37 Reticulum
2025 Jun 04 03h 55m 25s -60° 48’ 18” 44.38 Reticulum
2025 Jun 05 03h 56m 07s -60° 50’ 24” 44.40 Reticulum
2025 Jun 06 03h 56m 48s -60° 52’ 36” 44.41 Reticulum
2025 Jun 07 03h 57m 29s -60° 54’ 55” 44.43 Reticulum
2025 Jun 08 03h 58m 11s -60° 57’ 19” 44.44 Reticulum
2025 Jun 09 03h 58m 52s -60° 59’ 49” 44.46 Reticulum
2025 Jun 10 03h 59m 33s -61° 02’ 26” 44.48 Reticulum
2025 Jun 11 04h 00m 13s -61° 05’ 08” 44.49 Reticulum
2025 Jun 12 04h 00m 54s -61° 07’ 56” 44.51 Reticulum
2025 Jun 13 04h 01m 34s -61° 10’ 51” 44.52 Reticulum
2025 Jun 14 04h 02m 14s -61° 13’ 51” 44.54 Reticulum
2025 Jun 15 04h 02m 54s -61° 16’ 57” 44.55 Reticulum

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