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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2016 S1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
13.779 AU
True anomaly
171.4°
Distance from Earth
13.92 AU
As of
24 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 — 13.779 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 13.92 AU from Earth today (1.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 30m 32s
Declination
+62° 02′ 09″
Constellation
Draco
Distance from Earth
13.92 AU
Elongation from the Sun
79.84° — 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
8.284 AU
Eccentricity
0.7088
Inclination
94.69°
Orbital period
23.84 years
Perihelion
2.412 AU
Aphelion
14.156 AU
Longitude of ascending node
227.54°
Argument of periapsis
273.61°
Epoch · J2000
2457699.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 814.9 LD
2.094 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.483

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
127
Data arc
264 days
First observed
21 September 2016
Last observed
12 June 2017
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 24
5.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2016 S1

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-02-18 14:49:00 Juptr 1.2409 AU 482.9 LD 22.7 km/s
2065-11-24 22:32:00 Juptr 1.2686 AU 493.7 LD 22.8 km/s
2089-09-12 10:37:00 Juptr 1.3311 AU 518.0 LD 23.2 km/s
2113-07-22 04:33:00 Juptr 1.5021 AU 584.6 LD 23.8 km/s
2137-06-21 04:38:00 Juptr 1.8201 AU 708.3 LD 24.8 km/s

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

Sources