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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2020 O3 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.119 AU
True anomaly
200.38°
Distance from Earth
6.051 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 — 5.119 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 6.051 AU from Earth today (50.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 33m 34s
Declination
-11° 13′ 42″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
6.05 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.21° — 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
4.662 AU
Eccentricity
0.1061
Inclination
8.44°
Orbital period
10.07 years
Perihelion
4.167 AU
Aphelion
5.157 AU
Longitude of ascending node
266.9°
Argument of periapsis
81.21°
Epoch · J2000
2459080.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,235.1 LD
3.1737 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.978

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
71
Data arc
129 days
First observed
20 July 2020
Last observed
26 November 2020
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 February 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
12.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 O3

Named

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2084-09-19 16:11:00 Juptr 0.6739 AU 262.3 LD 2.9 km/s
2179-05-11 16:06:00 Juptr 0.6437 AU 250.5 LD 3.7 km/s

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

Sources