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Rankin

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P/2020 W1 (Rankin)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.501 AU
True anomaly
143.6°
Distance from Earth
9.286 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Rankin — 8.501 AU from the Sun Rankin
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Rankin is 9.286 AU from Earth today (1.3 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 57m 15s
Declination
+08° 19′ 33″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
9.29 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.03° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
7.193 AU
Eccentricity
0.2649
Inclination
10.79°
Orbital period
19.29 years
Perihelion
5.288 AU
Aphelion
9.099 AU
Longitude of ascending node
124.26°
Argument of periapsis
264.77°
Epoch · J2000
2459161.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,678.8 LD
4.3138 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.951

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
89
Data arc
111 days
First observed
29 August 2020
Last observed
18 December 2020
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
10.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 W1

Named

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2058-02-10 11:04:00 Juptr 1.3623 AU 530.2 LD 4.2 km/s
2061-08-16 08:45:00 Juptr 1.1214 AU 436.4 LD 2.4 km/s

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

Sources