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Comets » 

Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 7:29 | Tran: 15:04 | Set: 22:40
Alt: 33.38°   Az: 257.11°   Direction: West-South-West

Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 1,392,663,708.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 00h 52m 20s and the Declination is +18° 19’ 23” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) is 19.85 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) in Pisces on February, 16 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) in Pisces on February, 16 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: 00h 51m 01s
Dec: +18° 11’ 12”
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

00h 52m 20s
+18° 19’ 23”
03h 56m 09s
04h 48m 29s

J2000

00h 51m 01s
+18° 11’ 12”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.85

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: 71.7°
Max altitude: 56.8°
Azimuth: 288.3°
  • C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the West-South-West direction at an altitude of 33.38° 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 1,392,663,708.0 kilometers, equivalent to 9.3093818881 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 17m 25.426s to travel from Comet C/2020 Y2 (ATLAS) and arrive to us.

1,392,663,708.0
9.3093818881
1h 17m 25.426s

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 2014 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 436,759,709 kilometers:

Sun Mar 20 2022
436,759,709
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 26 December 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459575.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.99730335
Orbit inclination i 101.29636690°
Perihelion distance q 3.13249980 AU
468,615,302 km
Aphelion distance Q 2,320.12034740 AU
347,085,064,435 km
Semi-major axis a 1,161.62642360 AU
173,776,839,868 km
Orbital period period 39,592.0442 years
14,460,994.1512 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2022-Jun-17 16:09:36
2,459,748.1733 JD
Next perihelion transit 41615-Apr-26 19:47
16,920,742.3246 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 266.09925624766°
Longitude of the ascending node node 26.511084345723°
Mean anomaly M 359.99570137424°
Mean motion n 0.00002489°/day

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 Feb 09 00h 50m 44s +18° 03’ 06” 19.80 Pisces
2025 Feb 10 00h 50m 55s +18° 05’ 03” 19.81 Pisces
2025 Feb 11 00h 51m 07s +18° 07’ 03” 19.81 Pisces
2025 Feb 12 00h 51m 19s +18° 09’ 05” 19.82 Pisces
2025 Feb 13 00h 51m 31s +18° 11’ 10” 19.83 Pisces
2025 Feb 14 00h 51m 44s +18° 13’ 17” 19.83 Pisces
2025 Feb 15 00h 51m 56s +18° 15’ 26” 19.84 Pisces
2025 Feb 16 00h 52m 09s +18° 17’ 38” 19.85 Pisces
2025 Feb 17 00h 52m 23s +18° 19’ 51” 19.85 Pisces
2025 Feb 18 00h 52m 36s +18° 22’ 07” 19.86 Pisces
2025 Feb 19 00h 52m 50s +18° 24’ 25” 19.86 Pisces
2025 Feb 20 00h 53m 04s +18° 26’ 45” 19.87 Pisces
2025 Feb 21 00h 53m 19s +18° 29’ 07” 19.88 Pisces
2025 Feb 22 00h 53m 33s +18° 31’ 32” 19.88 Pisces

Additional Resources