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Comet

LONEOS

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493P/LONEOS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.142 AU
True anomaly
40.85°
Distance from Earth
4.368 AU
As of
24 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth LONEOS — 4.142 AU from the Sun LONEOS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LONEOS is 4.368 AU from Earth today (36.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 05m 28s
Declination
+31° 38′ 18″
Constellation
Leo Minor
Distance from Earth
4.37 AU
Elongation from the Sun
70.53° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
7.116 AU
Eccentricity
0.4628
Inclination
24.05°
Orbital period
18.98 years
Perihelion
3.823 AU
Aphelion
10.41 AU
Longitude of ascending node
1.35°
Argument of periapsis
83.55°
Epoch · J2000
2458204.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,148.0 LD
2.9499 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.625

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,394
Data arc
21.05 years
First observed
23 September 2005
Last observed
12 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.5
6.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 493P · 493P/2005 SB216 · 493P/2024 Q2

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-02-13 18:20:00 Juptr 0.5745 AU 223.6 LD 7 km/s
2063-07-16 05:40:00 Juptr 1.9045 AU 741.2 LD 5.5 km/s
2093-11-13 13:54:00 Juptr 0.6263 AU 243.7 LD 7.3 km/s
2134-12-25 17:33:00 Juptr 1.4282 AU 555.8 LD 10.2 km/s
2193-10-22 14:29:00 Juptr 0.9886 AU 384.7 LD 6.5 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources