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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2020 S2 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
12.98 AU
True anomaly
155.46°
Distance from Earth
13.939 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 — 12.98 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 13.939 AU from Earth today (1.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 00m 22s
Declination
-07° 18′ 48″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
13.94 AU
Elongation from the Sun
14.93° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
10.179 AU
Eccentricity
0.8275
Inclination
22.4°
Orbital period
32.48 years
Perihelion
1.756 AU
Aphelion
18.603 AU
Longitude of ascending node
197.69°
Argument of periapsis
202.26°
Epoch · J2000
2459137.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 303.1 LD
0.7789 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.963

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
96
Data arc
142 days
First observed
19 August 2020
Last observed
8 January 2021
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 September 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.5
16.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 S2

Named

Close approaches 1 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2187-05-24 13:48:00 Satrn 1.408 AU 548.0 LD 9.7 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources