Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Leonard

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/2020 X4 (Leonard)

Leonard is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 5.21 AU to 81.13 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 283.6 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 20 September 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
13.992 AU
True anomaly
110°
Distance from Earth
13.684 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 — 13.992 AU from the Sun Leonard
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Leonard is 13.684 AU from Earth today (1.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 19m 06s
Declination
-60° 10′ 08″
Constellation
Reticulum
Distance from Earth
13.69 AU
Elongation from the Sun
105.94° — 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
43.166 AU
Eccentricity
0.8794
Inclination
80.49°
Orbital period
283.6 years
Perihelion
5.206 AU
Aphelion
81.127 AU
Longitude of ascending node
161.91°
Argument of periapsis
139.91°
Epoch · J2000
2459273.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,709.2 LD
4.3918 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.574

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
113
Data arc
273 days
First observed
14 December 2020
Last observed
13 September 2021
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 September 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13
7.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 X4

Named

Sources