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Comet

Catalina-PANSTARRS

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P/2013 R3 (Catalina-PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.862 AU
True anomaly
179.07°
Distance from Earth
4.764 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Catalina-PANSTARRS — 3.862 AU from the Sun Catalina-PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina-PANSTARRS is 4.764 AU from Earth today (39.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 44m 44s
Declination
+01° 33′ 04″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
4.76 AU
Elongation from the Sun
23.12° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.033 AU
Eccentricity
0.2734
Inclination
0.9°
Orbital period
5.28 years
Perihelion
2.204 AU
Aphelion
3.862 AU
Longitude of ascending node
342.68°
Argument of periapsis
8.24°
Epoch · J2000
2456578.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 465.9 LD
1.1971 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.184

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
324
Data arc
124 days
First observed
1 September 2013
Last observed
3 January 2014
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 November 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 30
7.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2013 R3

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2063-08-06 04:17:00 Juptr 1.5587 AU 606.6 LD 0.5 km/s
2111-01-18 06:54:00 Juptr 1.5564 AU 605.7 LD 0.5 km/s
2158-06-29 00:26:00 Juptr 1.5622 AU 608.0 LD 0.5 km/s

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

Sources