Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1)

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is currently in the constellation of Ursa Major. The current Right Ascension of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is 11h 20m 33s and the Declination is +60° 57’ 37” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is 17.14 (JPL) while the latest observed magnitude is 17.5 (COBS).

Summary of key facts about Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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Additional information about Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1)?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1)?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) from Earth is currently 536,442,566 kilometers, equivalent to 3.585897 Astronomical Units. Light takes 29 minutes and 49.3798 seconds to travel from Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) 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.

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/2021 A1 (Leonard) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) to Earth happens on Mon Dec 13 2021 at a distance of 0.234017 Astronomical Units, or 35,008,436 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is 17.14.

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1), 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.

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) rise and set times

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) is circumpolar and transits at 20:20 UTC (altitude: 80.5°)

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 Apr 29	11h 36m 35s	+61° 32’ 31”	17.24	Ursa Major
2021 Apr 30	11h 34m 14s	+61° 28’ 41”	17.23	Ursa Major
2021 May 01	11h 31m 54s	+61° 24’ 28”	17.21	Ursa Major
2021 May 02	11h 29m 35s	+61° 19’ 54”	17.20	Ursa Major
2021 May 03	11h 27m 20s	+61° 15’ 02”	17.18	Ursa Major
2021 May 04	11h 25m 08s	+61° 09’ 48”	17.17	Ursa Major
2021 May 05	11h 22m 58s	+61° 04’ 17”	17.16	Ursa Major
2021 May 06	11h 20m 49s	+60° 58’ 27”	17.14	Ursa Major
2021 May 07	11h 18m 45s	+60° 52’ 18”	17.13	Ursa Major
2021 May 08	11h 16m 41s	+60° 45’ 52”	17.11	Ursa Major
2021 May 09	11h 14m 41s	+60° 39’ 11”	17.10	Ursa Major
2021 May 10	11h 12m 45s	+60° 32’ 12”	17.08	Ursa Major
2021 May 11	11h 10m 50s	+60° 24’ 59”	17.07	Ursa Major
2021 May 12	11h 08m 57s	+60° 17’ 30”	17.06	Ursa Major