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Comets » 

Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 0:31 | Tran: 8:56 | Set: 17:17
Alt: 62.15°   Az: 157.62°   Direction: South-South-East

Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 1,501,161,576.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 23m 46s and the Declination is +25° 00’ 30” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) is 19.91 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) in Pisces on June, 13 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) in Pisces 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 Y2 (ATLAS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS)
RA: 01h 22m 22s
Dec: +24° 52’ 33”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 23m 46s
+25° 00’ 30”
23h 14m 43s
00h 38m 29s

J2000

01h 22m 22s
+24° 52’ 33”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.91

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 Y2 (ATLAS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 64.9°
Max altitude: 63.5°
Azimuth: 295.0°
  • C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 62.15° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) 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 Y2 (ATLAS) from Earth is currently 1,501,161,576.0 kilometers, equivalent to 10.0346453394 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 23m 27.336s to travel from Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

1,501,161,576.0
10.0346453394
1h 23m 27.336s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) 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 Y2 (ATLAS) 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 Y2 (ATLAS) 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 Y2 (ATLAS) to Earth happens on Sun Mar 20 2022 at a distance of 2.919558 Astronomical Units, or 436,759,614 kilometers:

Sun Mar 20 2022
436,759,614
2.919558

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 Y2 (ATLAS), 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 Y2 (ATLAS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) at epoch 02 September 2022 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459825.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99700512
Orbit inclination i 101.29776629°
Perihelion distance q 3.13248975 AU
468,613,798 km
Aphelion distance Q 2,088.76402325 AU
312,474,650,899 km
Semi-major axis a 1,045.94825650 AU
156,471,632,348 km
Orbital period period 33,827.7804 years
12,355,596.7952 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Jun-17 16:46:06
2,459,748.1987 JD
Next perihelion transit 35850-Dec-08 11:51
14,815,344.9939 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 266.10580956237°
Longitude of the ascending node node 26.515016031378°
Mean anomaly M 0.0022522968642895°
Mean motion n 0.00002914°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS)
View Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) 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 01h 22m 43s +24° 33’ 08” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 07 01h 22m 52s +24° 36’ 55” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 08 01h 23m 01s +24° 40’ 41” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 09 01h 23m 10s +24° 44’ 26” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 10 01h 23m 19s +24° 48’ 12” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 11 01h 23m 28s +24° 51’ 56” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 12 01h 23m 36s +24° 55’ 40” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 13 01h 23m 43s +24° 59’ 23” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 14 01h 23m 51s +25° 03’ 06” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 15 01h 23m 58s +25° 06’ 48” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 16 01h 24m 04s +25° 10’ 29” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 17 01h 24m 11s +25° 14’ 10” 19.91 Pisces
2025 Jun 18 01h 24m 17s +25° 17’ 49” 19.90 Pisces
2025 Jun 19 01h 24m 24s +25° 21’ 27” 19.90 Pisces

Additional Resources on TheSkyLive