Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) was discovered on October 22, 2019, by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope located in Haleakala, Hawaii. It has a retrograde, hyperbolic-like orbit that is highly tilted (114°) with respect to the orbits of other major solar system objects, suggesting that its origin is most likely from the Oort cloud. On March 30, 2023, it reached its closest approach to the sun, or perihelion, and reached its maximum brightness between January and May 2023. As it continues to move away from the sun, it will gradually become fainter.

Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) Position Calculator

Compute the position of Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) for any date and time between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099 and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.

Time: : UTC

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Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)

Below the horizon. Rise: 13:56 | Tran: 15:05 | Set: 16:13

Alt: -45.38° Az: 263.68° Direction: West

Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Columba, at a distance of 1,162,969,089.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 31m 35s and the Declination is -37° 14’ 03” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) is 17.64 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

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Map showing Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) in Columba on May, 13 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
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Sky map showing Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) in Columba on May, 13 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 05h 30m 43s
Dec: -37° 15’ 07”

Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 05h 31m 35s

Declination -37° 14’ 03”

Hour Angle 07h 54m 56s

Sidereal Time 13h 26m 31s

J2000

Right Ascension 05h 30m 43s

Declination -37° 15’ 07”

Additional Information

Constellation Columba

Observed Magnitude (COBS) n/a

Coma Diameter (COBS) n/a

Tail Length (COBS) n/a

Observation Date (COBS) n/a

Predicted Magnitude (JPL) 17.64

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/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 127.3° RISE 13:56

Max altitude: 1.3° TRANSIT 15:05

Azimuth: 232.7° SET 16:13

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
Given its current magnitude, C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) is visible only through long exposure photography.
Go to interactive sky chart

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Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,162,969,089.0 kilometers, equivalent to 7.7739681959 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 4m 39.247s to travel from Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

Distance Km 1,162,969,089.0

Distance AU 7.7739681959

Light Travel Time 1h 4m 39.247s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2019 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/2019 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/2019 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 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) to Earth happens on Sat Mar 25 2023 at a distance of 2.627862 Astronomical Units, or 393,122,495 kilometers:

Date Sat Mar 25 2023

Distance Kilometers 393,122,495

Distance AU 2.627862

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/2019 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/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) at epoch 24 August 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459816.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element	Symbol	Value
Orbit eccentricity	e	1.00140194
Orbit inclination	i	113.52122020°
Perihelion distance	q	3.62401164 AU 542,144,426 km
Aphelion distance	Q	n.a.
Semi-major axis	a	n.a.
Orbital period	period	n.a.
Date of perihelion transit	Tp	2023-Mar-29 22:10:15 2,460,033.4238 JD
Argument of perihelion	peri	181.51179887596°
Longitude of the ascending node	node	2.6371830557129°
Mean anomaly	M	-0.0016267456585009°
Mean motion	n	0.00000750°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)
View Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2019 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
2025 May 06	05h 29m 07s	-37° 45’ 28”	17.60	Columba
2025 May 07	05h 29m 25s	-37° 41’ 08”	17.61	Columba
2025 May 08	05h 29m 44s	-37° 36’ 56”	17.61	Columba
2025 May 09	05h 30m 02s	-37° 32’ 50”	17.62	Columba
2025 May 10	05h 30m 20s	-37° 28’ 48”	17.62	Columba
2025 May 11	05h 30m 39s	-37° 24’ 54”	17.63	Columba
2025 May 12	05h 30m 58s	-37° 21’ 05”	17.63	Columba
2025 May 13	05h 31m 17s	-37° 17’ 23”	17.64	Columba
2025 May 14	05h 31m 37s	-37° 13’ 45”	17.64	Columba
2025 May 15	05h 31m 56s	-37° 10’ 15”	17.65	Columba
2025 May 16	05h 32m 16s	-37° 06’ 50”	17.65	Columba
2025 May 17	05h 32m 36s	-37° 03’ 31”	17.66	Columba
2025 May 18	05h 32m 57s	-37° 00’ 18”	17.66	Columba
2025 May 19	05h 33m 17s	-36° 57’ 12”	17.67	Columba

Ephemeris Calculator

Compute the position of Comet C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) for any date and time between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099 and display the results on an interactive star map.