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Comet

PANSTARRS

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511P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.132 AU
True anomaly
112.93°
Distance from Earth
3.224 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 — 3.132 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.224 AU from Earth today (26.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 17m 14s
Declination
+16° 06′ 40″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
3.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
76.29° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.012 AU
Eccentricity
0.2377
Inclination
14.78°
Orbital period
5.23 years
Perihelion
2.296 AU
Aphelion
3.727 AU
Longitude of ascending node
271.03°
Argument of periapsis
81.17°
Epoch · J2000
2460370.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 523.8 LD
1.3459 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.157

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
86
Data arc
9.96 years
First observed
12 December 2015
Last observed
26 November 2025
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
12 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.3
15.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 511P · 511P/2015 X9 · 511P/2020 O5 · 511P/2025 Q2

Named

Sources