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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2014 U4 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.954 AU
True anomaly
259.96°
Distance from Earth
3.543 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 PANSTARRS — 2.954 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.543 AU from Earth today (29.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 10m 12s
Declination
-26° 06′ 05″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
3.55 AU
Elongation from the Sun
46.65° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
3.485 AU
Eccentricity
0.471
Inclination
6.46°
Orbital period
6.51 years
Perihelion
1.843 AU
Aphelion
5.126 AU
Longitude of ascending node
12.05°
Argument of periapsis
347.73°
Epoch · J2000
2456957.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 326.9 LD
0.8401 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.928

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
61
Data arc
76 days
First observed
2 September 2014
Last observed
17 November 2014
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
19.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2014 U4

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2064-04-13 22:32:00 Juptr 0.525 AU 204.3 LD 4.3 km/s
2076-01-12 08:05:00 Juptr 0.3393 AU 132.0 LD 4 km/s
2076-01-12 08:05:00 Jupiter 0.3393 AU 132.0 LD 4 km/s
2159-07-04 18:03:00 Juptr 0.4831 AU 188.0 LD 4.1 km/s
2159-07-04 18:03:00 Jupiter 0.4831 AU 188.0 LD 4.1 km/s
2171-06-21 16:34:00 Juptr 0.587 AU 228.5 LD 4.5 km/s

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

Sources