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Comet

PANSTARRS

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500P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.976 AU
True anomaly
136.57°
Distance from Earth
3.981 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 — 3.976 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.981 AU from Earth today (33.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 48m 03s
Declination
-22° 56′ 07″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
3.99 AU
Elongation from the Sun
81.97° — well clear of the Sun

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
3.356 AU
Eccentricity
0.4134
Inclination
2.38°
Orbital period
6.15 years
Perihelion
1.969 AU
Aphelion
4.743 AU
Longitude of ascending node
116.5°
Argument of periapsis
42.29°
Epoch · J2000
2459746.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 381.5 LD
0.9803 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.012

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
87
Data arc
6.43 years
First observed
16 December 2018
Last observed
23 May 2025
Residual RMS
0.56 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 16.5
14.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 500P · 500P/2019 A8 · 500P/2025 B3

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2093-06-03 22:09:00 Juptr 1.4886 AU 579.3 LD 6.9 km/s
2105-03-05 04:51:00 Juptr 0.2077 AU 80.8 LD 3.7 km/s
2105-03-05 04:51:00 Jupiter 0.2077 AU 80.8 LD 3.7 km/s
2164-06-02 08:20:00 Juptr 0.1095 AU 42.6 LD 4.4 km/s
2164-06-02 08:20:00 Jupiter 0.1095 AU 42.6 LD 4.4 km/s

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

Sources