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Comet

PANSTARRS

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454P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.728 AU
True anomaly
178.45°
Distance from Earth
6.493 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 — 5.728 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 6.493 AU from Earth today (54.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 12m 20s
Declination
-26° 36′ 46″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
6.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.4° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
4.208 AU
Eccentricity
0.3615
Inclination
19.81°
Orbital period
8.63 years
Perihelion
2.687 AU
Aphelion
5.73 AU
Longitude of ascending node
54.61°
Argument of periapsis
19.83°
Epoch · J2000
2459428.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 664.9 LD
1.7084 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.814

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
96
Data arc
9.21 years
First observed
25 November 2013
Last observed
9 February 2023
Residual RMS
0.29 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 February 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.5
13.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 454P · 454P/2013 W3 · 454P/2022 U5

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2077-09-18 01:57:00 Juptr 0.7443 AU 289.7 LD 6.6 km/s
2125-03-02 01:55:00 Juptr 0.3755 AU 146.1 LD 5 km/s
2125-03-02 01:55:00 Jupiter 0.3755 AU 146.1 LD 5 km/s
2184-03-11 06:12:00 Juptr 0.345 AU 134.3 LD 6 km/s
2184-03-11 06:12:00 Jupiter 0.345 AU 134.3 LD 6 km/s

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

Sources