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Comet

PANSTARRS-Christensen

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443P/PANSTARRS-Christensen

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.302 AU
True anomaly
175.86°
Distance from Earth
4.633 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS-Christensen — 5.302 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS-Christensen
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS-Christensen is 4.633 AU from Earth today (38.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
05h 21m 04s
Declination
+08° 52′ 46″
Constellation
Orion
Distance from Earth
4.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
128.39° — 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
4.132 AU
Eccentricity
0.2845
Inclination
19.89°
Orbital period
8.4 years
Perihelion
2.956 AU
Aphelion
5.308 AU
Longitude of ascending node
108.96°
Argument of periapsis
145.02°
Epoch · J2000
2459288.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 764.6 LD
1.9647 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.866

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
215
Data arc
19.24 years
First observed
5 July 2005
Last observed
29 September 2024
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.8
9.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 443P · 443P/2005 N11 · 443P/2015 PO210 · 443P/2022 E1

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2057-04-25 17:36:00 Juptr 1.7314 AU 673.8 LD 5.8 km/s
2061-05-15 17:58:00 Juptr 0.2834 AU 110.3 LD 5.4 km/s
2061-05-15 17:58:00 Jupiter 0.2834 AU 110.3 LD 5.4 km/s
2096-08-20 22:06:00 Juptr 1.913 AU 744.5 LD 5.7 km/s
2139-11-19 20:35:00 Juptr 1.3298 AU 517.5 LD 6 km/s
2144-04-24 11:20:00 Juptr 0.6563 AU 255.4 LD 4.8 km/s

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

Sources