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Comet

Leonard

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C/2020 H4 (Leonard)

Leonard is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.94 AU to 244.13 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 1,356.4 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 10 January 2025.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
17.687 AU
True anomaly
154.33°
Distance from Earth
17.81 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Leonard — 17.687 AU from the Sun Leonard
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Leonard is 17.81 AU from Earth today (2.5 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 23m 17s
Declination
-71° 32′ 03″
Constellation
Volans
Distance from Earth
17.82 AU
Elongation from the Sun
81.28° — 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
122.532 AU
Eccentricity
0.9923
Inclination
84.33°
Orbital period
1,356.4 years
Perihelion
0.938 AU
Aphelion
244.126 AU
Longitude of ascending node
307.76°
Argument of periapsis
116.83°
Epoch · J2000
2458969.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 99.3 LD
0.2552 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.161

Orbit quality

Observations used
37
Data arc
42 days
First observed
21 April 2020
Last observed
2 June 2020
Residual RMS
0.76 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 January 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 H4

Named

Sources