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public  La Alianza, Puerto Rico La Alianza, Puerto Rico  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Puerto_Rico
Sunrise: 5:56 
Transit: 12:31 
Sunset: 19:05
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Comets » 

Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 6:08 | Tran: 11:42 | Set: 17:17
Alt: 49.06°   Az: 149.11°   Direction: South-South-East

Comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Canis Majoris, at a distance of 1,234,840,451.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 06h 19m 45s and the Declination is -17° 10’ 15” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 18.31.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Canis Majoris on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Canis Majoris on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 06h 18m 37s
Dec: -17° 09’ 32”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

06h 19m 45s
-17° 10’ 15”
22h 37m 32s
04h 57m 17s

J2000

06h 18m 37s
-17° 09’ 32”

Additional Information

Canis Majoris
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
18.31

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) from La Alianza, Puerto Rico (all times relative to the local timezone America/Puerto_Rico):

Azimuth: 107.2°
Max altitude: 54.4°
Azimuth: 252.8°

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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,234,840,451.0 kilometers, equivalent to 8.2543985768 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 8m 38.984s to travel from comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

1,234,840,451.0
8.2543985768
1h 8m 38.984s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

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 tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) to Earth happened on Friday 9 June 2023 at a distance of 2.471775 Astronomical Units, or 369,772,260 kilometers:

Friday 9 June 2023
369,772,260
2.471775

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

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 May, 31 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 May 9, 2023
2,460,073.5701 JD
Next perihelion transit March 10, 5335352
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

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

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
Jun 29 2025 06h 16m 01s -17° 20’ 14” 18.28 Canis Majoris
Jun 30 2025 06h 16m 31s -17° 18’ 40” 18.28 Canis Majoris
Jul 01 2025 06h 17m 01s -17° 17’ 11” 18.28 Canis Majoris
Jul 02 2025 06h 17m 30s -17° 15’ 47” 18.29 Canis Majoris
Jul 03 2025 06h 18m 00s -17° 14’ 26” 18.29 Canis Majoris
Jul 04 2025 06h 18m 29s -17° 13’ 11” 18.29 Canis Majoris
Jul 05 2025 06h 18m 58s -17° 11’ 59” 18.30 Canis Majoris
Jul 06 2025 06h 19m 27s -17° 10’ 52” 18.30 Canis Majoris
Jul 07 2025 06h 19m 56s -17° 09’ 50” 18.31 Canis Majoris
Jul 08 2025 06h 20m 26s -17° 08’ 51” 18.31 Canis Majoris
Jul 09 2025 06h 20m 54s -17° 07’ 57” 18.31 Canis Majoris
Jul 10 2025 06h 21m 23s -17° 07’ 08” 18.32 Canis Majoris
Jul 11 2025 06h 21m 51s -17° 06’ 23” 18.32 Canis Majoris
Jul 12 2025 06h 22m 19s -17° 05’ 42” 18.32 Canis Majoris

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