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.

Find it in the Sky

Chose a date & time and view the position of comet C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) in the sky on our interactive planetarium.

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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.

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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.

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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

Right Ascension 06h 19m 45s

Declination -17° 10’ 15”

Hour Angle 22h 37m 32s

Sidereal Time 04h 57m 17s

J2000

Right Ascension 06h 18m 37s

Declination -17° 09’ 32”

Additional Information

Constellation Canis Majoris

Observed Magnitude (COBS) n/a

Coma Diameter (COBS) n/a

Tail Length (COBS) n/a

Observation Date (COBS) n/a

Predicted Magnitude (JPL) 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° RISE 6:08

Max altitude: 54.4° TRANSIT 11:42

Azimuth: 252.8° SET 17:17

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.

Distance Km 1,234,840,451.0

Distance AU 8.2543985768

Light Travel Time 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:

Date Friday 9 June 2023

Distance Kilometers 369,772,260

Distance AU 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

Ephemeris Calculator

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