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Comet

PANSTARRS

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483P/PANSTARRS-A

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.011 AU
True anomaly
269.72°
Distance from Earth
3.81 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 — 3.011 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.81 AU from Earth today (31.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 01m 39s
Declination
-02° 09′ 56″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
3.8 AU
Elongation from the Sun
32.42° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.173 AU
Eccentricity
0.2284
Inclination
14.33°
Orbital period
5.65 years
Perihelion
2.449 AU
Aphelion
3.898 AU
Longitude of ascending node
199.85°
Argument of periapsis
46.68°
Epoch · J2000
2458068.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 568.7 LD
1.4614 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.113

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
151
Data arc
12.21 years
First observed
3 April 2010
Last observed
19 June 2022
Residual RMS
0.68 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
16 September 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 19.5
12.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 483P-A · 483P-A/2016 J1-A

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2035-11-13 01:15:00 Juptr 1.2402 AU 482.7 LD 3.5 km/s
2046-10-01 19:38:00 Juptr 1.6089 AU 626.1 LD 3.7 km/s
2132-08-01 11:38:00 Juptr 1.8907 AU 735.8 LD 0.8 km/s
2143-01-06 01:01:00 Juptr 1.3329 AU 518.7 LD 3.2 km/s
2153-12-21 23:14:00 Juptr 1.4069 AU 547.5 LD 3.5 km/s

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

Sources