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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2015 X6 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.99 AU
True anomaly
128.31°
Distance from Earth
3.981 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 — 2.99 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.981 AU from Earth today (33.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 30m 45s
Declination
-05° 50′ 47″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
3.98 AU
Elongation from the Sun
5.39° — 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
2.755 AU
Eccentricity
0.1696
Inclination
4.56°
Orbital period
4.57 years
Perihelion
2.287 AU
Aphelion
3.222 AU
Longitude of ascending node
107.11°
Argument of periapsis
329.02°
Epoch · J2000
2457378.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 507.4 LD
1.3037 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.319

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
46
Data arc
116 days
First observed
12 November 2015
Last observed
7 March 2016
Residual RMS
0.35 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
16.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2015 X6

Named

Sources