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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2012 V1 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.09 AU to 6,884.38 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 202,049.8 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 7 June 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
29.52 AU
True anomaly
149.21°
Distance from Earth
30.237 AU
As of
25 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 29.52 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 30.237 AU from Earth today (4.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 02m 36s
Declination
-17° 22′ 04″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
30.23 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.67° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3,443.237 AU
Eccentricity
0.9994
Inclination
157.84°
Orbital period
202,049.8 years
Perihelion
2.089 AU
Aphelion
6,884.384 AU
Longitude of ascending node
85.37°
Argument of periapsis
123.34°
Epoch · J2000
2456267.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 452.5 LD
1.1628 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.658

Orbit quality

Observations used
98
Data arc
345 days
First observed
2 September 2012
Last observed
13 August 2013
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2012 V1

Named

Sources