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Comets » 

Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard)

Below the horizon.  Never rises today
Alt: -36.93°   Az: 154.02°   Direction: South-South-East

Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) is in the constellation of Horologium, at a distance of 1,121,686,915.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 02h 57m 33s and the Declination is -66° 34’ 49” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) is 42.53 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) in Horologium on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) in Horologium 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/2023 A1 (Leonard) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2023 A1 (Leonard)
RA: 02h 57m 10s
Dec: -66° 40’ 49”
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

02h 57m 33s
-66° 34’ 49”
19h 52m 58s
22h 50m 32s

J2000

02h 57m 10s
-66° 40’ 49”

Additional Information

Horologium
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
42.53

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 1,121,686,915.0 kilometers, equivalent to 7.4980139072 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 2m 21.545s to travel from Comet C/2023 A1 (Leonard) and arrive to us.

1,121,686,915.0
7.4980139072
1h 2m 21.545s

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

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 Feb 11 02h 58m 09s -67° 34’ 02” 42.38 Hydrus
2025 Feb 12 02h 57m 59s -67° 26’ 04” 42.40 Hydrus
2025 Feb 13 02h 57m 52s -67° 18’ 07” 42.42 Hydrus
2025 Feb 14 02h 57m 45s -67° 10’ 13” 42.44 Hydrus
2025 Feb 15 02h 57m 40s -67° 02’ 21” 42.46 Hydrus
2025 Feb 16 02h 57m 37s -66° 54’ 31” 42.48 Hydrus
2025 Feb 17 02h 57m 34s -66° 46’ 43” 42.50 Horologium
2025 Feb 18 02h 57m 33s -66° 38’ 58” 42.52 Horologium
2025 Feb 19 02h 57m 34s -66° 31’ 16” 42.54 Horologium
2025 Feb 20 02h 57m 36s -66° 23’ 37” 42.56 Horologium
2025 Feb 21 02h 57m 38s -66° 16’ 00” 42.58 Horologium
2025 Feb 22 02h 57m 43s -66° 08’ 26” 42.60 Horologium
2025 Feb 23 02h 57m 48s -66° 00’ 56” 42.62 Horologium
2025 Feb 24 02h 57m 55s -65° 53’ 28” 42.64 Horologium

Additional Resources