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Comet

PANSTARRS

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432P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.329 AU
True anomaly
339.4°
Distance from Earth
1.94 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 — 2.329 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 1.94 AU from Earth today (16.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 53m 31s
Declination
-08° 37′ 49″
Constellation
Aquila
Distance from Earth
1.95 AU
Elongation from the Sun
99.42° — 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
3.037 AU
Eccentricity
0.2425
Inclination
10.07°
Orbital period
5.29 years
Perihelion
2.3 AU
Aphelion
3.773 AU
Longitude of ascending node
239.21°
Argument of periapsis
105.38°
Epoch · J2000
2459211.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 513.2 LD
1.3188 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.173

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
68
Data arc
5.03 years
First observed
25 October 2016
Last observed
7 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 November 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
18.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 432P · 432P/2016 U2 · 432P/2021 N4

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2040-10-10 04:52:00 Juptr 1.931 AU 751.5 LD 2.3 km/s
2049-11-15 03:46:00 Juptr 1.9534 AU 760.2 LD 2.9 km/s
2097-12-17 21:30:00 Juptr 1.9 AU 739.4 LD 1.8 km/s
2194-03-22 11:27:00 Juptr 1.8586 AU 723.3 LD 1.4 km/s

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

Sources