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Comet

PANSTARRS

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311P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.053 AU
True anomaly
296.81°
Distance from Earth
1.15 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 2.053 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 1.15 AU from Earth today (9.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 50m 55s
Declination
+02° 08′ 58″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
1.15 AU
Elongation from the Sun
144.85° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
2.188 AU
Eccentricity
0.1153
Inclination
4.97°
Orbital period
3.24 years
Perihelion
1.936 AU
Aphelion
2.441 AU
Longitude of ascending node
279.23°
Argument of periapsis
144.59°
Epoch · J2000
2459003.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 370.9 LD
0.9531 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.661

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
401
Data arc
21.71 years
First observed
17 January 2005
Last observed
4 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.31 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
19.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 311P · 311P/2013 P5

Named

Sources