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Comet Near-Earth

C/2020 P4-C

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Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.175 AU
True anomaly
190.09°
Distance from Earth
2.525 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth C/2020 P4-C — 2.175 AU from the Sun C/2020 P4-C
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. C/2020 P4-C is 2.525 AU from Earth today (21.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 12m 27s
Declination
-10° 07′ 40″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
2.51 AU
Elongation from the Sun
58.75° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
1.391 AU
Eccentricity
0.9394
Inclination
37.56°
Orbital period
598.9 days
Perihelion
0.084 AU
Aphelion
2.697 AU
Longitude of ascending node
165.26°
Argument of periapsis
116.42°
Epoch · J2000
2459069.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 130.6 LD
0.3355 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
4.023

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 9).

Observations used
29
First observed
7 August 2020
Last observed
7 August 2020
Residual RMS
0.02 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
15.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 P4-C

Near-Earth Object

Sources