C/2026 H2 (Leonard)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2026 H2 (Leonard)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2026-03-17T20:32:34.313280Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2026-05-08T13:42:11Z
Obs used 229
NEO -
M1 9.800
K1 10.000
PC -
Discovery observation (MPC, UTC) 2026-04-16T10:54:10.396800Z
Discovery magnitude (MPC) 19.65 G
Discovery observatory (MPC) G96 · Mt. Lemmon Survey
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2026-04-22.0000000
e 1.00390925
q (au) 4.547271
a (au) -1163.209293
i (deg) 148.652838
Ω (om, deg) 5.446450
ω (w, deg) 111.614316
M (ma, deg) 0.000873

Magnitude

C/2026 H2 (Leonard) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (5.574 + 6.000\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 5.574
n 6.000
gf 0.983
gb -0.583
k 1.000
δ90 9.949
Parameter Symbol Range Description
Absolute magnitude at 1 AU from Sun and Earth H0 -5 to 20 Intrinsic brightness of the comet
Photometric slope parameter n 2 to 6 Rate of brightness change with heliocentric distance
Forward scattering asymmetry factor gf 0.8 to 1 Degree of forward scattering
Backward scattering asymmetry factor gb -1 to -0.5 Degree of backward scattering
Partitioning coefficient k 0.8 to 1 Ratio between forward/backward scattering contributions
Dust-to-gas brightness ratio δ90 1 to 10 Relative contribution of dust scattering to gas emission

Reference: EPSC-DPS2025-160

Finding Chart

C/2026 H2 (Leonard) · Next 30 Days

Ephemeris

Date/Time (UTC) RA (J2000) Dec (J2000) Nearest HIP Dist from HIP (arcmin)
2026-05-12 00:00 16:37:21.49 +12:06:48.3 HIP 81218 30.17
2026-05-12 12:00 16:36:30.11 +12:08:43.2 HIP 81218 18.91
2026-05-13 00:00 16:35:38.59 +12:10:35.7 HIP 81218 11.28
2026-05-13 12:00 16:34:46.92 +12:12:25.7 HIP 81218 14.86
2026-05-14 00:00 16:33:55.10 +12:14:13.2 HIP 81218 25.30
2026-05-14 12:00 16:33:03.15 +12:15:58.2 HIP 81018 21.25
2026-05-15 00:00 16:32:11.07 +12:17:40.6 HIP 80936 11.25
2026-05-15 12:00 16:31:18.87 +12:19:20.5 HIP 80936 7.43
2026-05-16 00:00 16:30:26.55 +12:20:57.8 HIP 80936 17.77
2026-05-16 12:00 16:29:34.12 +12:22:32.4 HIP 80773 26.26
2026-05-17 00:00 16:28:41.58 +12:24:04.4 HIP 80773 30.44
2026-05-17 12:00 16:27:48.95 +12:25:33.7 HIP 80553 26.91
2026-05-18 00:00 16:26:56.23 +12:27:00.4 HIP 80553 23.78
2026-05-18 12:00 16:26:03.43 +12:28:24.3 HIP 80553 27.22
2026-05-19 00:00 16:25:10.55 +12:29:45.5 HIP 80332 28.10
2026-05-19 12:00 16:24:17.60 +12:31:03.9 HIP 80332 21.33
2026-05-20 00:00 16:23:24.59 +12:32:19.6 HIP 80332 21.45
2026-05-20 12:00 16:22:31.52 +12:33:32.5 HIP 80182 21.51
2026-05-21 00:00 16:21:38.40 +12:34:42.6 HIP 80182 22.92
2026-05-21 12:00 16:20:45.24 +12:35:49.9 HIP 79952 23.15
2026-05-22 00:00 16:19:52.05 +12:36:54.4 HIP 79952 10.64
2026-05-22 12:00 16:18:58.82 +12:37:56.0 HIP 79952 5.41
2026-05-23 00:00 16:18:05.58 +12:38:54.8 HIP 79947 16.15
2026-05-23 12:00 16:17:12.32 +12:39:50.8 HIP 79858 26.58
2026-05-24 00:00 16:16:19.05 +12:40:43.9 HIP 79858 34.16
2026-05-24 12:00 16:15:25.77 +12:41:34.1 HIP 79465 36.67
2026-05-25 00:00 16:14:32.51 +12:42:21.5 HIP 79465 23.79
2026-05-25 12:00 16:13:39.25 +12:43:05.9 HIP 79465 11.26
2026-05-26 00:00 16:12:46.01 +12:43:47.5 HIP 79465 5.12
2026-05-26 12:00 16:11:52.80 +12:44:26.2 HIP 79444 16.12
2026-05-27 00:00 16:10:59.61 +12:45:02.0 HIP 79444 27.87
2026-05-27 12:00 16:10:06.47 +12:45:34.9 HIP 79139 16.71
2026-05-28 00:00 16:09:13.37 +12:46:04.9 HIP 79139 9.85
2026-05-28 12:00 16:08:20.32 +12:46:32.0 HIP 79139 15.83
2026-05-29 00:00 16:07:27.32 +12:46:56.3 HIP 79028 25.09
2026-05-29 12:00 16:06:34.39 +12:47:17.6 HIP 79028 30.83
2026-05-30 00:00 16:05:41.53 +12:47:36.0 HIP 78773 23.24
2026-05-30 12:00 16:04:48.75 +12:47:51.5 HIP 78773 20.40
2026-05-31 00:00 16:03:56.05 +12:48:04.1 HIP 78773 24.98
2026-05-31 12:00 16:03:03.43 +12:48:13.8 HIP 78773 34.09
2026-06-01 00:00 16:02:10.91 +12:48:20.7 HIP 78444 27.65
2026-06-01 12:00 16:01:18.50 +12:48:24.6 HIP 78444 20.87
2026-06-02 00:00 16:00:26.19 +12:48:25.7 HIP 78444 20.78