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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:44 
Transit: 13:00 
Sunset: 21:16
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Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 22:47 | Tran: 3:02 | Set: 7:11
Alt: -8.99°   Az: 249.14°   Direction: West-South-West

Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Sagittarius, at a distance of 1,307,825,661.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 19h 28m 28s and the Declination is -19° 57’ 31” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) is 21.58 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in Sagittarius on June, 13 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in Sagittarius on June, 13 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 U5 (PANSTARRS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 19h 26m 59s
Dec: -20° 00’ 42”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

19h 28m 28s
-19° 57’ 31”
05h 16m 23s
00h 44m 52s

J2000

19h 26m 59s
-20° 00’ 42”

Additional Information

Sagittarius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
21.58

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 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 110.0°
Max altitude: 18.6°
Azimuth: 250.0°
  • C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,307,825,661.0 kilometers, equivalent to 8.7422745717 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 12m 42.437s to travel from Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

1,307,825,661.0
8.7422745717
1h 12m 42.437s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2020 U5 (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 U5 (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 U5 (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 U5 (PANSTARRS) to Earth happens on Tue Dec 28 2021 at a distance of 3.393910 Astronomical Units, or 507,721,763 kilometers:

Tue Dec 28 2021
507,721,763
3.393910

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 U5 (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 U5 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) at epoch 03 January 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459583.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99935367
Orbit inclination i 97.27109360°
Perihelion distance q 3.75593175 AU
561,879,393 km
Aphelion distance Q 11,618.53702947 AU
1,738,108,403,743 km
Semi-major axis a 5,811.14648061 AU
869,335,141,568 km
Orbital period period 442,997.1543 years
161,804,710.5998 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Apr-27 21:04:17
2,459,697.3780 JD
Next perihelion transit 4555-Feb-08 20:21
164,264,407.9778 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 75.415390070965°
Longitude of the ascending node node 107.33791968475°
Mean anomaly M 359.99974663239°
Mean motion n 0.00000222°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS)
View Comet C/2020 U5 (PANSTARRS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2020 U5 (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 Jun 06 19h 31m 24s -19° 37’ 56” 21.58 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 07 19h 31m 00s -19° 40’ 35” 21.58 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 08 19h 30m 37s -19° 43’ 14” 21.58 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 09 19h 30m 13s -19° 45’ 54” 21.58 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 10 19h 29m 49s -19° 48’ 35” 21.58 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 11 19h 29m 25s -19° 51’ 17” 21.58 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 12 19h 29m 00s -19° 53’ 59” 21.58 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 13 19h 28m 36s -19° 56’ 41” 21.58 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 14 19h 28m 10s -19° 59’ 25” 21.59 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 15 19h 27m 45s -20° 02’ 08” 21.59 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 16 19h 27m 20s -20° 04’ 53” 21.59 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 17 19h 26m 54s -20° 07’ 37” 21.59 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 18 19h 26m 28s -20° 10’ 23” 21.59 Sagittarius
2025 Jun 19 19h 26m 02s -20° 13’ 08” 21.59 Sagittarius

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