Skip Navigation Links

P/2020 U2 (PANSTARRS)
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Today30 May 202622.64.734 AU3.958 AU 19h43m-27°56'135.5°8.6°267°
Nearest approach22 Sep 202718.22.626 AU1.669 AU 22h31m-08°53'157.7°8.3°69°
Perihelion1 May 202817.81.847 AU2.784 AU 03h40m+23°55'17.4°9.4°63°
P/2020 U2 (PANSTARRS)- 2026-05-30
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
-1 month
-1 week
-1 day
Now
+1 day
+1 week
+1 month

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 12.9 + 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 P/2020 U2 (PANSTARRS) are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5111450
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 1.8467140
    i (Inclination)                 : 6.41880
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 342.77070
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 84.83130
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 67.56957
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 6.39259
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2461893.28380
    P (Orbital period in years)     : 7.34

    Epoch                           : 2026 May 29
    Reference                       : MPC194170

    Classification(s):              : Ecliptic; Jupiter family
    Tisserand (Jupiter)             : 2.833

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-05-29 00:00 UT   19 44 30.6   -27 54 18     3.980    4.739  133.9    8.9   266   22.7 
2026-05-30 00:00 UT   19 44 10.6   -27 55 57     3.966    4.736  134.9    8.7   266   22.6 
2026-05-30 13:36 UT   19 43 58.8   -27 56 54     3.958    4.734  135.5    8.6   267   22.6 
2026-05-31 00:00 UT   19 43 49.6   -27 57 38     3.952    4.733  135.9    8.6   267   22.6 
2026-06-01 00:00 UT   19 43 27.7   -27 59 19     3.938    4.730  136.9    8.4   267   22.6 
2026-06-02 00:00 UT   19 43 04.8   -28 01 01     3.925    4.727  138.0    8.3   267   22.6 
2026-06-03 00:00 UT   19 42 41.0   -28 02 45     3.911    4.724  139.0    8.1   268   22.6 
2026-06-04 00:00 UT   19 42 16.3   -28 04 29     3.898    4.720  140.0    7.9   268   22.6 
2026-06-05 00:00 UT   19 41 50.7   -28 06 14     3.885    4.717  141.1    7.8   268   22.6 
2026-06-06 00:00 UT   19 41 24.2   -28 07 60     3.872    4.714  142.1    7.6   269   22.6 
2026-06-07 00:00 UT   19 40 56.7   -28 09 46     3.859    4.711  143.2    7.4   269   22.6 
2026-06-08 00:00 UT   19 40 28.4   -28 11 33     3.847    4.708  144.2    7.2   270   22.6 
2026-06-09 00:00 UT   19 39 59.3   -28 13 20     3.835    4.705  145.2    7.1   270   22.5 




    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.

Privacy policy