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Comet

PANSTARRS

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512P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.833 AU
True anomaly
356.13°
Distance from Earth
3.882 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 PANSTARRS — 4.833 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.882 AU from Earth today (32.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 15m 34s
Declination
-06° 02′ 29″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
3.89 AU
Elongation from the Sun
160.13° — near opposition — up most of the night

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
5.723 AU
Eccentricity
0.1558
Inclination
12.55°
Orbital period
13.69 years
Perihelion
4.831 AU
Aphelion
6.614 AU
Longitude of ascending node
73.78°
Argument of periapsis
307.58°
Epoch · J2000
2458932.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,498.7 LD
3.8511 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.932

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
122
Data arc
15.04 years
First observed
23 September 2011
Last observed
9 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.8
7.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 512P · 512P/2012 T2 · 512P/2025 O3

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2090-11-02 05:25:00 Juptr 0.6838 AU 266.1 LD 2.9 km/s
2094-11-21 12:41:00 Juptr 0.7028 AU 273.5 LD 2.8 km/s
2106-09-26 05:34:00 Jupiter 0.3549 AU 138.1 LD 4 km/s
2106-09-26 05:34:00 Juptr 0.3549 AU 138.1 LD 4 km/s
2141-11-05 19:36:00 Juptr 1.2339 AU 480.2 LD 3.8 km/s

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

Sources