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Comet Near-Earth

ATLAS

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P/2021 PE20 (ATLAS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.218 AU
True anomaly
205.57°
Distance from Earth
5.946 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 ATLAS — 5.218 AU from the Sun ATLAS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. ATLAS is 5.946 AU from Earth today (49.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 13m 19s
Declination
+20° 43′ 33″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
5.94 AU
Elongation from the Sun
40.21° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.746 AU
Eccentricity
0.6708
Inclination
20.02°
Orbital period
7.25 years
Perihelion
1.233 AU
Aphelion
6.259 AU
Longitude of ascending node
99.63°
Argument of periapsis
210.45°
Epoch · J2000
2459463.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 99.3 LD
0.2551 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.572

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
112
Data arc
95 days
First observed
9 August 2021
Last observed
12 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.61 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
24 April 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 16.3
15.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 PE20

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2037-09-04 16:48:00 Juptr 0.159 AU 61.9 LD 8.9 km/s
2037-09-04 16:48:00 Jupiter 0.159 AU 61.9 LD 8.9 km/s
2099-02-01 23:41:00 Juptr 1.0667 AU 415.1 LD 7.8 km/s

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

Sources