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Comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 15:44 | Tran: 21:41 | Set: 3:43
Alt: 5.50°   Az: 262.79°   Direction: West

Comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Serpens, at a distance of 1,110,733,191.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 46m 08s and the Declination is -00° 09’ 49” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 20.72).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Serpens on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Serpens 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 S4 (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 S4 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 15h 44m 50s
Dec: -00° 05’ 06”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 46m 08s
-00° 09’ 49”
05h 23m 46s
21h 09m 55s

J2000

15h 44m 50s
-00° 05’ 06”

Additional Information

Serpens
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
20.72

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 S4 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 90.2°
Max altitude: 38.3°
Azimuth: 269.8°

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 S4 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,110,733,191.0 kilometers, equivalent to 7.4247927848 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 1m 45.007s to travel from comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

1,110,733,191.0
7.4247927848
1h 1m 45.007s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/2020 S4 (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 S4 (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 S4 (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 S4 (PANSTARRS) to Earth happened on Monday 6 February 2023 at a distance of 2.394273 Astronomical Units, or 358,178,192 kilometers:

Monday 6 February 2023
358,178,192
2.394273

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 S4 (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 S4 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/2020 S4 (PANSTARRS) at epoch June, 02 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459733.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00061396
Orbit inclination i 20.57260658°
Perihelion distance q 3.36960472 AU
504,085,692 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp February 9, 2023
2,459,984.7978 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 21.002074395513°
Longitude of the ascending node node 117.72112292624°
Mean anomaly M -0.00060915764061301°
Mean motion n 0.00000242°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/2020 S4 (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 S4 (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 30 2025 15h 47m 33s +00° 02’ 42” 20.67 Serpens
Jul 01 2025 15h 47m 20s +00° 01’ 04” 20.68 Serpens
Jul 02 2025 15h 47m 07s -00° 00’ 36” 20.68 Serpens
Jul 03 2025 15h 46m 55s -00° 02’ 19” 20.69 Serpens
Jul 04 2025 15h 46m 43s -00° 04’ 06” 20.70 Serpens
Jul 05 2025 15h 46m 31s -00° 05’ 53” 20.71 Serpens
Jul 06 2025 15h 46m 20s -00° 07’ 44” 20.71 Serpens
Jul 07 2025 15h 46m 09s -00° 09’ 39” 20.72 Serpens
Jul 08 2025 15h 45m 59s -00° 11’ 34” 20.73 Serpens
Jul 09 2025 15h 45m 49s -00° 13’ 33” 20.74 Serpens
Jul 10 2025 15h 45m 39s -00° 15’ 33” 20.74 Serpens
Jul 11 2025 15h 45m 30s -00° 17’ 37” 20.75 Serpens
Jul 12 2025 15h 45m 22s -00° 19’ 42” 20.76 Serpens
Jul 13 2025 15h 45m 13s -00° 21’ 50” 20.77 Serpens

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