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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2020 H8 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 4.67 AU to 1,221.45 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 15,179.7 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 1 July 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
15.909 AU
True anomaly
114.69°
Distance from Earth
16.379 AU
As of
25 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 15.909 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 16.379 AU from Earth today (2.3 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 05m 23s
Declination
-69° 46′ 16″
Constellation
Musca
Distance from Earth
16.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.25° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
613.06 AU
Eccentricity
0.9924
Inclination
99.65°
Orbital period
15,179.7 years
Perihelion
4.675 AU
Aphelion
1,221.446 AU
Longitude of ascending node
68.41°
Argument of periapsis
128.9°
Epoch · J2000
2459024.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,545.9 LD
3.9723 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.44

Orbit quality

Observations used
199
Data arc
407 days
First observed
30 April 2020
Last observed
11 June 2021
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 July 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9
11.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 H8

Named

Sources