C/2020 P4-C (SOHO)
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase	PA
Perihelion	5 Aug 2020	7.0	0.090 AU	0.949 AU	09h14m	+19°06'	3.6°	134.9°	52°
Nearest approach	7 Aug 2020	8.6	0.137 AU	0.908 AU	08h48m	+17°07'	5.2°	138.1°	278°
Today	1 Feb 2026	39.6	26.357 AU	25.744 AU	06h05m	-13°26'	127.5°	1.7°	56°

This comet is a sunskirter. Although it may become very bright at perihelion, this will only be for a very short period very close to the sun.

The interactive orbit chart above shows the comet's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

Light curve

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations from COBS. This lightcurve is being recalculated every 6 hours based on the available COBS/MPC observations (currently 18.4 + 5 log[∆] + 10.0 log[r]). An additional green curve is displayed when an increase in apparent brightness is expected due to forward scattering of sunlight, which occurs when a dust-rich comet is located between the Earth and the Sun. (See Marcus 2007)

Charts

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the comet over the same period as the light curve. The comet's current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the short-term path of the comet in a field of view that is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Orbital elements

The orbital elements of C/2020 P4-C (SOHO) are:

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0132640
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.0895540
    i (Inclination)                 : 37.26310
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 165.31050
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 115.95120
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 106.75671
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 32.98532
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2459066.88810

    Epoch                           : 2026 Jan 31
    Reference                       : MPEC 2020-QN1

    Classification(s):              : Nearly isotropic; New (a > 10000 AU); Sunskirter

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   06 05 28.6   -13 27 47    25.713   26.338  128.4    1.7    54   39.6 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   06 05 21.6   -13 26 50    25.736   26.352  127.7    1.7    55   39.6 
2026-02-01 08:04 UT   06 05 19.3   -13 26 31    25.744   26.357  127.5    1.7    56   39.6 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   06 05 14.8   -13 25 52    25.759   26.366  127.0    1.7    56   39.6 
2026-02-03 00:00 UT   06 05 08.1   -13 24 54    25.782   26.380  126.3    1.7    57   39.6 
2026-02-04 00:00 UT   06 05 01.5   -13 23 54    25.806   26.394  125.6    1.7    58   39.7 
2026-02-05 00:00 UT   06 04 55.1   -13 22 53    25.829   26.408  124.9    1.8    59   39.7 
2026-02-06 00:00 UT   06 04 48.7   -13 21 52    25.853   26.422  124.2    1.8    60   39.7 
2026-02-07 00:00 UT   06 04 42.5   -13 20 49    25.877   26.436  123.5    1.8    61   39.7 
2026-02-08 00:00 UT   06 04 36.5   -13 19 46    25.901   26.450  122.8    1.8    62   39.7 
2026-02-09 00:00 UT   06 04 30.6   -13 18 41    25.925   26.464  122.1    1.8    63   39.7 
2026-02-10 00:00 UT   06 04 24.8   -13 17 36    25.949   26.478  121.3    1.8    64   39.7 
2026-02-11 00:00 UT   06 04 19.1   -13 16 30    25.974   26.492  120.6    1.8    64   39.7 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between comet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between comet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-comet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km      
    

Orbital elements usually provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database) or the MPC (Minor Planet Center)
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.