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Comet

PANSTARRS

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348P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.998 AU
True anomaly
262.45°
Distance from Earth
2.206 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 — 2.998 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 2.206 AU from Earth today (18.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 08m 30s
Declination
+03° 46′ 22″
Constellation
Pegasus
Distance from Earth
2.21 AU
Elongation from the Sun
134.6° — 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
3.169 AU
Eccentricity
0.3021
Inclination
17.58°
Orbital period
5.64 years
Perihelion
2.211 AU
Aphelion
4.126 AU
Longitude of ascending node
313.39°
Argument of periapsis
134.35°
Epoch · J2000
2458355.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 492.0 LD
1.2642 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.06

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
89
Data arc
15.83 years
First observed
18 September 2009
Last observed
18 July 2025
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6
17

Discovery & classification

Also known as 348P · 348P/2011 A5 · 348P/2017 A2

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2092-09-23 14:18:00 Juptr 1.7046 AU 663.4 LD 4.4 km/s
2103-07-24 19:12:00 Juptr 1.27 AU 494.2 LD 4.5 km/s
2114-06-01 14:19:00 Juptr 1.9982 AU 777.6 LD 4.9 km/s
2187-07-14 13:40:00 Juptr 1.6228 AU 631.5 LD 4.5 km/s
2198-05-31 22:17:00 Juptr 1.259 AU 490.0 LD 4.6 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources