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Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 14:48 | Tran: 19:59 | Set: 1:15
Alt: 28.54°   Az: 193.08°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Crater, at a distance of 458,778,378.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 22m 05s and the Declination is -09° 09’ 34” (apparent coordinates). The latest observed magnitude of Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) is 16.8 (data provided by COBS).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) in Crater on May, 27 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) in Crater on May, 27 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2024 L5 (ATLAS)
RA: 11h 20m 48s
Dec: -09° 01’ 12”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 22m 05s
-09° 09’ 34”
00h 46m 28s
12h 08m 33s

J2000

11h 20m 48s
-09° 01’ 12”

Additional Information

Crater
16.8
0.4'
n/a
2025-05-26
16.24

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/2024 L5 (ATLAS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 99.2°
Max altitude: 29.4°
Azimuth: 260.7°
  • C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 28.54° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) 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/2024 L5 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 458,778,378.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.0667440376 Astronomical Units. Light takes 25m 30.320s to travel from Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

458,778,378.0
3.0667440376
25m 30.320s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2024 L5 (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/2024 L5 (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/2024 L5 (ATLAS) 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/2024 L5 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Thu Apr 10 2025 at a distance of 2.473368 Astronomical Units, or 370,010,606 kilometers:

Thu Apr 10 2025
370,010,606
2.473368

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/2024 L5 (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/2024 L5 (ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) at epoch 22 November 2024 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460637.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.03749719
Orbit inclination i 166.57331674°
Perihelion distance q 3.43237342 AU
513,475,757 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2025-Mar-10 09:45:55
2,460,744.9069 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 290.51280389837°
Longitude of the ascending node node 139.17192796778°
Mean anomaly M -0.12087666059771°
Mean motion n 0.00112541°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS)
View Comet C/2024 L5 (ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2024 L5 (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
2025 May 20 11h 31m 03s -11° 07’ 05” 16.09 Crater
2025 May 21 11h 29m 47s -10° 51’ 06” 16.11 Crater
2025 May 22 11h 28m 33s -10° 35’ 23” 16.13 Crater
2025 May 23 11h 27m 21s -10° 19’ 59” 16.15 Crater
2025 May 24 11h 26m 12s -10° 04’ 50” 16.16 Crater
2025 May 25 11h 25m 04s -09° 49’ 59” 16.18 Crater
2025 May 26 11h 23m 59s -09° 35’ 25” 16.20 Crater
2025 May 27 11h 22m 56s -09° 21’ 07” 16.22 Crater
2025 May 28 11h 21m 55s -09° 07’ 07” 16.24 Crater
2025 May 29 11h 20m 56s -08° 53’ 23” 16.26 Crater
2025 May 30 11h 20m 00s -08° 39’ 57” 16.27 Crater
2025 May 31 11h 19m 05s -08° 26’ 48” 16.29 Crater
2025 Jun 01 11h 18m 12s -08° 13’ 54” 16.31 Crater
2025 Jun 02 11h 17m 21s -08° 01’ 18” 16.33 Crater

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