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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2020 M1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.31 AU
True anomaly
194.16°
Distance from Earth
6.369 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 7.31 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 6.369 AU from Earth today (53.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 10m 10s
Declination
+07° 31′ 46″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
6.36 AU
Elongation from the Sun
160.39° — near opposition — up most of the night

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
5.087 AU
Eccentricity
0.4769
Inclination
8.63°
Orbital period
11.47 years
Perihelion
2.661 AU
Aphelion
7.513 AU
Longitude of ascending node
142.96°
Argument of periapsis
67.85°
Epoch · J2000
2459001.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 650.5 LD
1.6714 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.741

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
51
Data arc
538 days
First observed
27 January 2019
Last observed
18 July 2020
Residual RMS
0.17 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 February 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 15.8
12.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 M1

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-11-28 05:15:00 Juptr 1.5906 AU 619.0 LD 11.6 km/s
2087-08-28 11:04:00 Satrn 1.969 AU 766.3 LD 2.6 km/s
2152-10-25 07:22:00 Juptr 1.7719 AU 689.6 LD 12.2 km/s
2164-06-07 05:29:00 Juptr 0.6771 AU 263.5 LD 9.3 km/s
2176-07-11 11:44:00 Juptr 1.5523 AU 604.1 LD 11.6 km/s

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

Sources