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Comet

WISE-PANSTARRS

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444P/WISE-PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.923 AU
True anomaly
201.65°
Distance from Earth
4.896 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 WISE-PANSTARRS — 4.923 AU from the Sun WISE-PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. WISE-PANSTARRS is 4.896 AU from Earth today (40.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 41m 59s
Declination
+26° 11′ 09″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
4.88 AU
Elongation from the Sun
86.33° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.428 AU
Eccentricity
0.5703
Inclination
22.12°
Orbital period
6.35 years
Perihelion
1.473 AU
Aphelion
5.383 AU
Longitude of ascending node
89.41°
Argument of periapsis
170.89°
Epoch · J2000
2459649.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 179.4 LD
0.4609 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.753

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
247
Data arc
19.26 years
First observed
1 May 2003
Last observed
2 August 2022
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 October 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9.3
16.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 444P · 444P/2010 LK36 · 444P/2016 MD · 444P/2016 PM1 · 444P/2022 C4

Named

Close approaches 18 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2072-11-25 02:55:00 Juptr 1.5935 AU 620.1 LD 10.7 km/s
2084-06-28 22:38:00 Juptr 0.321 AU 124.9 LD 6.6 km/s
2084-06-28 22:38:00 Jupiter 0.321 AU 124.9 LD 6.6 km/s
2132-02-19 04:35:00 Jupiter 0.3197 AU 124.4 LD 7.4 km/s
2132-02-19 04:35:00 Juptr 0.3197 AU 124.4 LD 7.4 km/s
2143-05-26 10:47:00 Jupiter 0.4733 AU 184.2 LD 6.6 km/s
2143-05-26 10:47:00 Juptr 0.4733 AU 184.2 LD 6.6 km/s

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

Sources