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Comet

Rankin

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C/2020 R6 (Rankin)

Rankin is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 3.13 AU to 800.46 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 8,054 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 17 December 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
18.084 AU
True anomaly
131.33°
Distance from Earth
17.39 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 Rankin — 18.084 AU from the Sun Rankin
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Rankin is 17.39 AU from Earth today (2.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 31m 45s
Declination
+47° 21′ 27″
Constellation
Andromeda
Distance from Earth
17.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
133.12° — 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
401.794 AU
Eccentricity
0.9922
Inclination
82.81°
Orbital period
8,054 years
Perihelion
3.13 AU
Aphelion
800.458 AU
Longitude of ascending node
12.18°
Argument of periapsis
272.01°
Epoch · J2000
2459082.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,141.7 LD
2.9338 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.287

Orbit quality

Observations used
56
Data arc
526 days
First observed
14 May 2019
Last observed
21 October 2020
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 December 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
14.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 R6

Named

Sources