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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2022 S5 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.18 AU to 38.72 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 92.48 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 21 April 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
11.082 AU
True anomaly
134.63°
Distance from Earth
12.072 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 — 11.082 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 12.072 AU from Earth today (1.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 56m 57s
Declination
-06° 58′ 08″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
12.07 AU
Elongation from the Sun
5.14° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
20.45 AU
Eccentricity
0.8935
Inclination
136.53°
Orbital period
92.48 years
Perihelion
2.179 AU
Aphelion
38.721 AU
Longitude of ascending node
214.86°
Argument of periapsis
232.78°
Epoch · J2000
2459860.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 531.5 LD
1.3656 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.038

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
100
Data arc
98 days
First observed
12 August 2022
Last observed
18 November 2022
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 April 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.3
12.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2022 S5

Named

Sources