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C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Nearest approach24 Mar 202312.43.625 AU2.628 AU 12h06m-01°22'178.8°0.3°86°
Perihelion29 Mar 202312.43.624 AU2.634 AU 11h56m-01°33'171.5°2.3°101°
Today21 Oct 202517.68.400 AU8.141 AU 05h46m-45°38'101.7°6.7°299°
C/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS)- 2025-10-21
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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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 6.0 + 5 log[∆] + 7.6 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/2019 U5 (PANSTARRS) are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0000310
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 3.6244990
    i (Inclination)                 : 113.51350
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 2.60450
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 181.44530
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 2.02777
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -1.32527
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460032.86030

    Epoch                           : 2025 Oct 20
    Reference                       : MPC188408

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

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   05 47 38.2   -45 30 07     8.140    8.391  101.2    6.7   297   17.6 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   05 47 02.1   -45 35 41     8.141    8.397  101.5    6.7   298   17.6 
2025-10-21 10:21 UT   05 46 46.3   -45 38 03     8.141    8.400  101.7    6.7   299   17.6 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   05 46 25.2   -45 41 10     8.141    8.403  101.9    6.7   300   17.6 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   05 45 47.6   -45 46 35     8.142    8.410  102.2    6.6   301   17.6 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   05 45 09.3   -45 51 55     8.143    8.416  102.6    6.6   302   17.6 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   05 44 30.3   -45 57 10     8.144    8.422  102.9    6.6   303   17.7 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   05 43 50.5   -46 02 21     8.145    8.429  103.2    6.6   304   17.7 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   05 43 10.1   -46 07 26     8.146    8.435  103.5    6.6   305   17.7 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   05 42 29.0   -46 12 26     8.148    8.441  103.9    6.6   306   17.7 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   05 41 47.2   -46 17 21     8.149    8.448  104.2    6.5   307   17.7 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   05 41 04.7   -46 22 10     8.151    8.454  104.5    6.5   309   17.7 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   05 40 21.6   -46 26 53     8.152    8.460  104.7    6.5   310   17.7 




    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.

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