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Comet

PANSTARRS

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477P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.243 AU
True anomaly
185.68°
Distance from Earth
5.23 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 — 4.243 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.23 AU from Earth today (43.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 55m 06s
Declination
-00° 02′ 50″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
5.23 AU
Elongation from the Sun
8.35° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
3.007 AU
Eccentricity
0.416
Inclination
8.91°
Orbital period
5.22 years
Perihelion
1.756 AU
Aphelion
4.258 AU
Longitude of ascending node
59.21°
Argument of periapsis
305.89°
Epoch · J2000
2458577.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 300.0 LD
0.7709 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.096

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
320
Data arc
10.54 years
First observed
14 July 2013
Last observed
28 January 2024
Residual RMS
0.75 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 April 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 40
7.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 477P · 477P/2018 P3 · 477P/2023 V8

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2052-12-03 01:05:00 Juptr 1.3595 AU 529.1 LD 1.9 km/s
2099-11-02 22:54:00 Juptr 1.288 AU 501.3 LD 2 km/s
2146-07-15 16:21:00 Juptr 1.6811 AU 654.2 LD 1.9 km/s
2183-10-02 06:52:00 Juptr 1.4536 AU 565.7 LD 2 km/s

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

Sources