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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2019 A9 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.43 AU to 76.22 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 241.9 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
18.536 AU
True anomaly
151.8°
Distance from Earth
18.852 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 — 18.536 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 18.852 AU from Earth today (2.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 29m 19s
Declination
+05° 39′ 51″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
18.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
69.54° — well clear of the Sun

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
38.824 AU
Eccentricity
0.9633
Inclination
84.34°
Orbital period
241.9 years
Perihelion
1.426 AU
Aphelion
76.222 AU
Longitude of ascending node
278.37°
Argument of periapsis
237.8°
Epoch · J2000
2458567.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 286.5 LD
0.7361 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.279

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
199
Data arc
546 days
First observed
18 December 2018
Last observed
16 June 2020
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.5
10.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2019 A9

Named

Sources