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Comet

Lemmon-PANSTARRS

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481P/Lemmon-PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.779 AU
True anomaly
142.19°
Distance from Earth
6.719 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 Lemmon-PANSTARRS — 5.779 AU from the Sun Lemmon-PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Lemmon-PANSTARRS is 6.719 AU from Earth today (55.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 01m 42s
Declination
-13° 17′ 22″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
6.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
17.11° — 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
4.785 AU
Eccentricity
0.3365
Inclination
6.12°
Orbital period
10.47 years
Perihelion
3.174 AU
Aphelion
6.395 AU
Longitude of ascending node
94.51°
Argument of periapsis
352.74°
Epoch · J2000
2458151.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 852.7 LD
2.1911 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.883

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
58
Data arc
12.45 years
First observed
26 September 2011
Last observed
8 March 2024
Residual RMS
0.39 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 January 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8.8
14.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 481P · 481P/2012 WA34 · 481P/2024 C5

Named

Close approaches 17 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2077-09-08 15:09:00 Jupiter 0.4748 AU 184.8 LD 3.8 km/s
2077-09-08 15:09:00 Juptr 0.4748 AU 184.8 LD 3.8 km/s
2083-06-03 06:36:00 Juptr 1.9892 AU 774.1 LD 6.4 km/s
2125-01-17 01:07:00 Juptr 1.7748 AU 690.7 LD 8.5 km/s
2139-08-16 14:43:00 Juptr 0.4933 AU 192.0 LD 4.7 km/s
2139-08-16 14:43:00 Jupiter 0.4933 AU 192.0 LD 4.7 km/s
2172-12-31 15:43:00 Juptr 0.5671 AU 220.7 LD 3.6 km/s
2176-07-31 19:09:00 Juptr 1.7584 AU 684.3 LD 3.7 km/s

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

Sources