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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2019 L1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
13.247 AU
True anomaly
152.65°
Distance from Earth
12.865 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 — 13.247 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 12.865 AU from Earth today (1.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 45m 15s
Declination
+19° 05′ 04″
Constellation
Gemini
Distance from Earth
12.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
110.86° — 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
9.852 AU
Eccentricity
0.7066
Inclination
9.99°
Orbital period
30.92 years
Perihelion
2.89 AU
Aphelion
16.813 AU
Longitude of ascending node
254.41°
Argument of periapsis
49.92°
Epoch · J2000
2458674.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 734.8 LD
1.8882 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.446

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
103
Data arc
154 days
First observed
30 May 2019
Last observed
31 October 2019
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 January 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
13.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2019 L1

Named

Close approaches 2 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2142-03-29 01:10:00 Juptr 0.7006 AU 272.6 LD 8.8 km/s

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

Sources