Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) was discovered on May 17, 2020, by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). It is a comet that originates from the Oort cloud, a region of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune. The comet's orbit is parabolic-like, almost perpendicular to the ecliptic plane, the plane in which the planets orbit the Sun. The comet will reach its closest point to the Sun, known as perihelion, on May 9, 2023, when it will be at a distance of 3.07 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. On July 9, 2023, the comet will make its closest approach to Earth, at a distance of 2.47 AU. Between April and August 2023, the comet will be at its brightest and then it will gradually become dimmer as it moves away from the inner solar system.

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Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS)

Below the horizon. Rise: 10:40 | Tran: 14:54 | Set: 19:08

Alt: -30.90° Az: 82.46° Direction: East

Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Lepus, at a distance of 1,170,384,353.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 56m 26s and the Declination is -19° 22’ 13” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) is 18.08 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

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Map showing Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) in Lepus on May, 22 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map

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Sky map showing Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) in Lepus on May, 22 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 05h 55m 20s
Dec: -19° 22’ 23”

Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

Right Ascension 05h 56m 26s

Declination -19° 22’ 13”

Hour Angle 16h 17m 30s

Sidereal Time 22h 13m 57s

J2000

Right Ascension 05h 55m 20s

Declination -19° 22’ 23”

Additional Information

Constellation Lepus

Observed Magnitude (COBS) n/a

Coma Diameter (COBS) n/a

Tail Length (COBS) n/a

Observation Date (COBS) n/a

Predicted Magnitude (JPL) 18.08

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 K1 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 109.4° RISE 10:40

Max altitude: 19.2° TRANSIT 14:54

Azimuth: 250.7° SET 19:08

VISIBILITY RIGHT NOW

C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
Given its current magnitude, C/2020 K1 (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/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,170,384,353.0 kilometers, equivalent to 7.8235361742 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 5m 3.982s to travel from Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

Distance Km 1,170,384,353.0

Distance AU 7.8235361742

Light Travel Time 1h 5m 3.982s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2020 K1 (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 K1 (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 K1 (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/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) to Earth happens on Fri Jun 9 2023 at a distance of 2.471775 Astronomical Units, or 369,772,260 kilometers:

Date Fri Jun 9 2023

Distance Kilometers 369,772,260

Distance AU 2.471775

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 K1 (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 K1 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) at epoch 31 May 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459731.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element	Symbol	Value
Orbit eccentricity	e	0.99989931
Orbit inclination	i	89.66233387°
Perihelion distance	q	3.07351960 AU 459,791,988 km
Aphelion distance	Q	61,046.71402184 AU 9,132,458,449,213 km
Semi-major axis	a	30,524.89377072 AU 4,566,459,120,600 km
Orbital period	period	5,333,219.3251 years 1,947,958,358.4844 days
Date of perihelion transit	Tp	2023-May-09 01:40:54 2,460,073.5701 JD
Next perihelion transit		2023-May-09 01:40 1,950,418,432.0544 JD
Argument of perihelion	peri	213.97716344292°
Longitude of the ascending node	node	94.356541258613°
Mean anomaly	M	359.99993678241°
Mean motion	n	0.00000018°/day

2h1>Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS)
View Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2020 K1 (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 15	05h 52m 55s	-19° 59’ 11”	18.04	Lepus
2025 May 16	05h 53m 24s	-19° 53’ 49”	18.05	Lepus
2025 May 17	05h 53m 52s	-19° 48’ 33”	18.05	Lepus
2025 May 18	05h 54m 21s	-19° 43’ 22”	18.06	Lepus
2025 May 19	05h 54m 51s	-19° 38’ 16”	18.07	Lepus
2025 May 20	05h 55m 20s	-19° 33’ 15”	18.07	Lepus
2025 May 21	05h 55m 49s	-19° 28’ 19”	18.08	Lepus
2025 May 22	05h 56m 19s	-19° 23’ 28”	18.08	Lepus
2025 May 23	05h 56m 48s	-19° 18’ 43”	18.09	Lepus
2025 May 24	05h 57m 18s	-19° 14’ 02”	18.09	Lepus
2025 May 25	05h 57m 47s	-19° 09’ 27”	18.10	Lepus
2025 May 26	05h 58m 17s	-19° 04’ 57”	18.11	Lepus
2025 May 27	05h 58m 47s	-19° 00’ 33”	18.11	Lepus
2025 May 28	05h 59m 17s	-18° 56’ 13”	18.12	Lepus

Ephemeris Calculator

Compute the position of Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) for any date and time between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099 and display the results on an interactive star map.