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Comet

Lee

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C/1999 H1 (Lee)

Lee is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.71 AU to 5,547.55 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 146,116.2 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
50.164 AU
True anomaly
166.41°
Distance from Earth
49.897 AU
As of
25 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Lee — 50.164 AU from the Sun Lee
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Lee is 49.897 AU from Earth today (6.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 39m 21s
Declination
-28° 19′ 00″
Constellation
Piscis Austrinus
Distance from Earth
49.91 AU
Elongation from the Sun
104.5° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
2,774.13 AU
Eccentricity
0.9997
Inclination
149.35°
Orbital period
146,116.2 years
Perihelion
0.708 AU
Aphelion
5,547.551 AU
Longitude of ascending node
162.65°
Argument of periapsis
40.7°
Epoch · J2000
2451407.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 58.6 LD
0.1505 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.896

Orbit quality

Observations used
1,019
Data arc
267 days
First observed
16 April 1999
Last observed
8 January 2000
Residual RMS
0.9 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 11
9.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1999 H1

Named

Sources