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Comets » 

Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 18:38 | Tran: 2:22 | Set: 10:02
Alt: -3.39°   Az: 306.60°   Direction: North-West

Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Coma, at a distance of 797,313,174.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 11h 59m 57s and the Declination is +18° 55’ 34” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) is 23.64 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) in Coma on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) in Coma on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

P/2022 L3 (ATLAS)
RA: 11h 58m 40s
Dec: +19° 03’ 58”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

11h 59m 57s
+18° 55’ 34”
08h 08m 20s
20h 08m 18s

J2000

11h 58m 40s
+19° 03’ 58”

Additional Information

Coma
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.64

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 P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 71.1°
Max altitude: 57.4°
Azimuth: 288.9°
  • P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, P/2022 L3 (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 P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 797,313,174.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.3297093753 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44m 19.550s to travel from Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

797,313,174.0
5.3297093753
44m 19.550s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet P/2022 L3 (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 P/2022 L3 (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 P/2022 L3 (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 P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Tue Nov 1 2022 at a distance of 1.432201 Astronomical Units, or 214,254,186 kilometers:

Tue Nov 1 2022
214,254,186
1.432201

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 P/2022 L3 (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 P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) at epoch 30 October 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459883.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.62815598
Orbit inclination i 21.54241308°
Perihelion distance q 2.41984278 AU
362,003,328 km
Aphelion distance Q 10.59552184 AU
1,585,067,509 km
Semi-major axis a 6.50768231 AU
973,535,418 km
Orbital period period 16.6015 years
6,063.7033 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Oct-29 23:14:50
2,459,882.4686 JD
Next perihelion transit 2039-Jun-06 16:07
2,465,946.1719 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 10.331547961772°
Longitude of the ascending node node 29.804698185998°
Mean anomaly M 0.061231666262233°
Mean motion n 0.05936966°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS)
View Comet P/2022 L3 (ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet P/2022 L3 (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 Feb 07 12h 02m 54s +18° 31’ 55” 23.63 Coma
2025 Feb 08 12h 02m 32s +18° 35’ 06” 23.63 Coma
2025 Feb 09 12h 02m 10s +18° 38’ 18” 23.63 Coma
2025 Feb 10 12h 01m 46s +18° 41’ 29” 23.63 Coma
2025 Feb 11 12h 01m 23s +18° 44’ 40” 23.63 Coma
2025 Feb 12 12h 00m 59s +18° 47’ 51” 23.64 Coma
2025 Feb 13 12h 00m 34s +18° 51’ 02” 23.64 Coma
2025 Feb 14 12h 00m 09s +18° 54’ 12” 23.64 Coma
2025 Feb 15 11h 59m 43s +18° 57’ 21” 23.64 Coma
2025 Feb 16 11h 59m 17s +19° 00’ 30” 23.65 Leo
2025 Feb 17 11h 58m 50s +19° 03’ 38” 23.65 Leo
2025 Feb 18 11h 58m 23s +19° 06’ 44” 23.65 Leo
2025 Feb 19 11h 57m 56s +19° 09’ 50” 23.65 Leo
2025 Feb 20 11h 57m 28s +19° 12’ 54” 23.66 Leo

Additional Resources