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public LocationGreenwich, UK
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:21 
Transit: 13:06 
Sunset: 20:50
wb_twilight   (Nautical Twilight)   What's Visible Now?
Comets » 

Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 18:11 | Tran: 23:32 | Set: 4:57
Alt: 6.21°   Az: 249.93°   Direction: West-South-West

Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Aquila, at a distance of 1,007,241,249.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 19h 05m 09s and the Declination is -07° 20’ 38” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) is 20.42 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder chart of C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in Aquila on July,29 2024
Map showing Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in Aquila on July, 29 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

19h 05m 09s
-07° 20’ 38”
04h 41m 12s
23h 46m 21s

J2000

19h 03m 49s
-07° 22’ 55”

Additional Information

Aquila
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
20.42

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 97.4°
Max altitude: 31.1°
Azimuth: 262.7°
  • C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the West-South-West direction at an altitude of 6.21° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Finder Charts

Finder chart of C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)
Sky map showing Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in Aquila on July, 29 2024. Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 19h 03m 49s
Dec: -07° 22’ 55”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,007,241,249.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.7329918821 Astronomical Units. Light takes 55m 59.795s to travel from Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

1,007,241,249.0
6.7329918821
55m 59.795s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) to Earth happens on Tue Dec 28 2021 at a distance of 3.393927 Astronomical Units, or 507,724,183 kilometers:

Tue Dec 28 2021
507,724,183
3.393927

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS), according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) at epoch 10 December 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459559.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99939895
Orbit inclination i 97.27158478°
Perihelion distance q 3.75596149 AU
561,883,842 km
Aphelion distance Q 12,494.31926539 AU
1,869,123,561,696 km
Semi-major axis a 6,249.03761344 AU
934,842,722,769 km
Orbital period period 494,001.0936 years
180,433,899.4402 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Apr-27 20:53:32
2,459,697.3705 JD
Next perihelion transit 2323-Jan-06 05:40
182,893,596.8107 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 75.414169356183°
Longitude of the ascending node node 107.33860027853°
Mean anomaly M 359.99972492206°
Mean motion n 0.00000200°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)
View Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2024 Jul 22 19h 09m 02s -06° 45’ 45” 20.39 Aquila
2024 Jul 23 19h 08m 28s -06° 50’ 36” 20.39 Aquila
2024 Jul 24 19h 07m 55s -06° 55’ 27” 20.40 Aquila
2024 Jul 25 19h 07m 22s -07° 00’ 19” 20.40 Aquila
2024 Jul 26 19h 06m 49s -07° 05’ 13” 20.41 Aquila
2024 Jul 27 19h 06m 17s -07° 10’ 07” 20.41 Aquila
2024 Jul 28 19h 05m 45s -07° 15’ 03” 20.42 Aquila
2024 Jul 29 19h 05m 13s -07° 19’ 58” 20.42 Aquila
2024 Jul 30 19h 04m 41s -07° 24’ 55” 20.43 Aquila
2024 Jul 31 19h 04m 10s -07° 29’ 52” 20.43 Aquila
2024 Aug 01 19h 03m 39s -07° 34’ 49” 20.44 Aquila
2024 Aug 02 19h 03m 09s -07° 39’ 47” 20.44 Aquila
2024 Aug 03 19h 02m 39s -07° 44’ 45” 20.45 Aquila
2024 Aug 04 19h 02m 09s -07° 49’ 44” 20.46 Aquila

Additional Resources