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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2020 U2 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.21 AU
True anomaly
228.74°
Distance from Earth
4.374 AU
As of
22 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 4.21 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 4.374 AU from Earth today (36.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 00m 00s
Declination
-27° 13′ 27″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
4.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
73.65° — 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
3.777 AU
Eccentricity
0.5105
Inclination
6.42°
Orbital period
7.34 years
Perihelion
1.849 AU
Aphelion
5.705 AU
Longitude of ascending node
342.9°
Argument of periapsis
84.64°
Epoch · J2000
2459226.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 340.6 LD
0.8753 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.834

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
301
Data arc
206 days
First observed
17 September 2020
Last observed
11 April 2021
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 July 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 26
9.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 U2

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-04-30 20:28:00 Juptr 1.817 AU 707.1 LD 9.6 km/s
2055-03-27 16:14:00 Juptr 0.6569 AU 255.6 LD 4.3 km/s
2113-01-06 04:12:00 Juptr 0.79 AU 307.5 LD 5.2 km/s
2161-05-08 01:34:00 Juptr 0.7684 AU 299.1 LD 4.2 km/s
2183-10-02 20:47:00 Juptr 1.0087 AU 392.6 LD 5.1 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources