C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2023-05-09T01:41:32.504640Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2026-03-07T11:42:49Z
Obs used 3655
NEO -
M1 8.600
K1 6.000
PC -
Discovery observation (MPC, UTC) 2020-05-17T12:17:42.374400Z
Discovery magnitude (MPC) 20.62 w
Discovery observatory (MPC) F52 · Pan-STARRS 2, Haleakala
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2022-07-31.0000000
e 0.99993441
q (au) 3.073431
a (au) 46857.294566
i (deg) 89.664146
Ω (om, deg) 94.355504
ω (w, deg) 213.979196
M (ma, deg) 359.999973

Magnitude

C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (9.629 + 3.286\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 9.629
n 3.286
gf 0.997
gb -0.751
k 0.800
δ90 10.000
Parameter Symbol Range Description
Absolute magnitude at 1 AU from Sun and Earth H0 -5 to 20 Intrinsic brightness of the comet
Photometric slope parameter n 2 to 6 Rate of brightness change with heliocentric distance
Forward scattering asymmetry factor gf 0.8 to 1 Degree of forward scattering
Backward scattering asymmetry factor gb -1 to -0.5 Degree of backward scattering
Partitioning coefficient k 0.8 to 1 Ratio between forward/backward scattering contributions
Dust-to-gas brightness ratio δ90 1 to 10 Relative contribution of dust scattering to gas emission

Reference: EPSC-DPS2025-160

Residuals (Piecewise)

$$\epsilon = a \log_{10} r_{\mathrm{au}} + b$$

Start (UTC) End (UTC) a b
2020-04-17 2022-05-11 +3.0096 -2.438
2022-05-11 2022-08-27 +3.0169 -2.088
2022-08-27 2023-05-09 -4.1442 +1.851
2023-05-09 2024-01-03 +2.1871 -0.968
2024-01-03 2025-03-10 +0.4091 -0.340
2025-03-10 2026-01-09 +12.3405 -10.351

log10 r = log10(heliocentric distance / AU), Δ = geocentric distance (AU)

Finding Chart

C/2020 K1 (PANSTARRS) · Next 30 Days

Ephemeris

Date/Time (UTC) RA (J2000) Dec (J2000) Nearest HIP Dist from HIP (arcmin)
2026-03-26 00:00 05:48:30.30 -12:36:34.5 HIP 27506 14.29
2026-03-26 12:00 05:48:32.60 -12:33:52.8 HIP 27506 13.40
2026-03-27 00:00 05:48:35.01 -12:31:11.6 HIP 27506 13.03
2026-03-27 12:00 05:48:37.53 -12:28:30.8 HIP 27506 13.20
2026-03-28 00:00 05:48:40.15 -12:25:50.5 HIP 27506 13.89
2026-03-28 12:00 05:48:42.87 -12:23:10.6 HIP 27506 15.04
2026-03-29 00:00 05:48:45.70 -12:20:31.3 HIP 27509 13.33
2026-03-29 12:00 05:48:48.62 -12:17:52.4 HIP 27509 11.48
2026-03-30 00:00 05:48:51.65 -12:15:14.1 HIP 27509 10.03
2026-03-30 12:00 05:48:54.77 -12:12:36.2 HIP 27509 9.16
2026-03-31 00:00 05:48:58.00 -12:09:58.9 HIP 27509 9.04
2026-03-31 12:00 05:49:01.33 -12:07:22.1 HIP 27509 9.70
2026-04-01 00:00 05:49:04.75 -12:04:45.8 HIP 27509 10.99
2026-04-01 12:00 05:49:08.27 -12:02:10.0 HIP 27509 12.74
2026-04-02 00:00 05:49:11.89 -11:59:34.7 HIP 27509 14.77
2026-04-02 12:00 05:49:15.61 -11:57:00.0 HIP 27509 16.98
2026-04-03 00:00 05:49:19.42 -11:54:25.8 HIP 27509 19.32
2026-04-03 12:00 05:49:23.33 -11:51:52.2 HIP 27509 21.73
2026-04-04 00:00 05:49:27.34 -11:49:19.1 HIP 27509 24.21
2026-04-04 12:00 05:49:31.43 -11:46:46.6 HIP 27509 26.72
2026-04-05 00:00 05:49:35.63 -11:44:14.6 HIP 27657 26.52
2026-04-05 12:00 05:49:39.91 -11:41:43.1 HIP 27657 25.08
2026-04-06 00:00 05:49:44.29 -11:39:12.3 HIP 27657 23.84
2026-04-06 12:00 05:49:48.76 -11:36:42.0 HIP 27657 22.83
2026-04-07 00:00 05:49:53.32 -11:34:12.3 HIP 27657 22.10
2026-04-07 12:00 05:49:57.97 -11:31:43.1 HIP 27657 21.67
2026-04-08 00:00 05:50:02.72 -11:29:14.5 HIP 27657 21.55
2026-04-08 12:00 05:50:07.55 -11:26:46.6 HIP 27657 21.75
2026-04-09 00:00 05:50:12.47 -11:24:19.2 HIP 27657 22.27
2026-04-09 12:00 05:50:17.49 -11:21:52.4 HIP 27657 23.08
2026-04-10 00:00 05:50:22.59 -11:19:26.2 HIP 27477 23.57
2026-04-10 12:00 05:50:27.77 -11:17:00.6 HIP 27704 22.80
2026-04-11 00:00 05:50:33.05 -11:14:35.6 HIP 27704 22.15
2026-04-11 12:00 05:50:38.41 -11:12:11.3 HIP 27704 21.80
2026-04-12 00:00 05:50:43.86 -11:09:47.5 HIP 27704 21.77
2026-04-12 12:00 05:50:49.39 -11:07:24.4 HIP 27704 22.05
2026-04-13 00:00 05:50:55.01 -11:05:01.9 HIP 27704 22.65
2026-04-13 12:00 05:51:00.71 -11:02:40.0 HIP 27704 23.53
2026-04-14 00:00 05:51:06.49 -11:00:18.7 HIP 27704 24.67
2026-04-14 12:00 05:51:12.36 -10:57:58.1 HIP 27704 26.03
2026-04-15 00:00 05:51:18.31 -10:55:38.2 HIP 27704 27.58
2026-04-15 12:00 05:51:24.34 -10:53:18.9 HIP 27690 27.57
2026-04-16 00:00 05:51:30.45 -10:51:00.2 HIP 27690 25.04