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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2020 PV6 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.3 AU to 81.11 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 269.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 30 July 2024.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
13.939 AU
True anomaly
136°
Distance from Earth
14.135 AU
As of
24 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 — 13.939 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 14.135 AU from Earth today (2.0 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 48m 05s
Declination
-03° 50′ 59″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
14.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
77.16° — well clear of the Sun

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
41.702 AU
Eccentricity
0.945
Inclination
128.24°
Orbital period
269.3 years
Perihelion
2.296 AU
Aphelion
81.107 AU
Longitude of ascending node
329.14°
Argument of periapsis
71.38°
Epoch · J2000
2459487.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 650.3 LD
1.671 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.022

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
1,749
Data arc
671 days
First observed
21 July 2020
Last observed
23 May 2022
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 July 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.3
7.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 PV6

Named

Sources