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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:01  ☀️ Transit: 12:06  🌅 Sunset: 18:11

Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER)

Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) is currently in the constellation of Pegasus. The current Right Ascension of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) is 23h 56m 24s and the Declination is +21° 15’ 08” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) is 18.30 (JPL).

23h 56m 24s
+21° 15’ 08”
Pegasus
18.30

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 68.7°
Max altitude: 59.8°
Azimuth: 291.3°
  • C/2020 F5 (MASTER) is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the East-North-East direction at an altitude of 4° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2020 F5 (MASTER) 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.

Available Resources

Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Map showing Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) in Pegasus on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) in Pegasus on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2020 F5 (MASTER)
RA: 23h 56m 24s
Dec: +21° 15’ 08”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER)
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) from Earth is currently 1,203,414,083 kilometers, equivalent to 8.044326 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 6 minutes and 54.1573 seconds to travel from Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) and arrive to us.

1,203,414,083
8.044326
1 hours, 6 minutes and 54.1573 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) 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 F5 (MASTER) 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 F5 (MASTER) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) to Earth happens on Sun Aug 22 2021 at a distance of 3.573850 Astronomical Units, or 534,640,376 kilometers:

Sun Aug 22 2021
534,640,376
3.573850

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

Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) is 18.30.

18.30
-
-

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER), 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 F5 (MASTER) as a function of time

Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) at epoch 06 March 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459645.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00092411
Orbit inclination i 52.18324909°
Perihelion distance q 4.32568742 AU
647,113,629 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2021-Mar-23 15:26:07
2,459,297.1431 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 311.09904554418°
Longitude of the ascending node node 350.5278364134°
Mean anomaly M 0.0010720966704327°
Mean motion n 0.00000308°/day

Visualization of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER)
View Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet C/2020 F5 (MASTER) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 14 23h 52m 28s +20° 34’ 36” 18.26 Pegasus
2023 Mar 15 23h 53m 02s +20° 40’ 09” 18.27 Pegasus
2023 Mar 16 23h 53m 35s +20° 45’ 42” 18.27 Pegasus
2023 Mar 17 23h 54m 06s +20° 51’ 20” 18.28 Pegasus
2023 Mar 18 23h 54m 39s +20° 56’ 57” 18.28 Pegasus
2023 Mar 19 23h 55m 13s +21° 02’ 38” 18.29 Pegasus
2023 Mar 20 23h 55m 45s +21° 08’ 20” 18.29 Pegasus
2023 Mar 21 23h 56m 17s +21° 14’ 03” 18.30 Pegasus
2023 Mar 22 23h 56m 51s +21° 19’ 49” 18.30 Pegasus
2023 Mar 23 23h 57m 23s +21° 25’ 36” 18.31 Pegasus
2023 Mar 24 23h 57m 56s +21° 31’ 23” 18.31 Pegasus
2023 Mar 25 23h 58m 27s +21° 37’ 14” 18.31 Pegasus
2023 Mar 26 23h 59m 00s +21° 43’ 06” 18.32 Pegasus
2023 Mar 27 23h 59m 32s +21° 49’ 00” 18.32 Pegasus