About C/2020 P4-A
C/2020 P4-A is an uncommon comet. It swings within 0.091 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
On a hyperbolic orbit: it is moving too fast for the Sun's gravity to hold on to it.
Uncommon comet 24 EP
C/2020 P4-A
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 3 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) +18
- Comet +6
- Catalogue designation only +0
Total score 24
10 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Catalogue designation only
- Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) · +18
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. On a hyperbolic orbit: it is moving too fast for the Sun's gravity to hold on to it.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 0.09 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Mercury.
- One-way trip. On a hyperbolic path — it will leave the Solar System and never return.
Standing on it
- Sunlight there. At closest approach the Sun beats down about 121 times harder than it ever does on Earth.
- Growing a tail. Once inside roughly the orbit of Mars the ice starts turning straight to gas, blowing out the coma and tail that make a comet a comet.
- Tail. Its tail always points away from the Sun, never trailing behind its motion — it is blown, not dragged.
By the numbers
- Made of. A comet is a dirty snowball: water ice, frozen carbon dioxide and dust, held together loosely enough that some simply crumble when the Sun warms them.
What's in a name
- Designation. Known only by its catalogue designation — no name yet.
Properties
- designation
- 2020 P4-A
- eccentricity
- 1.002
- full name
- C/2020 P4-A
- inclination
- 26.33
- mean motion deg day
- 0.0031
- moid au
- 0.242
- name
- C/2020 P4-A
- number only
- yes
- orbit class
- HYP
- perihelion au
- 0.091
- semi major au
- -46.45
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, C/2020 P4-A is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why C/2020 P4-A is an uncommon comet
C/2020 P4-A scores 24 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 10 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Comet, Catalogue designation only and Hyperbolic comet (one pass, then gone) — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.