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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2017 S8 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.272 AU
True anomaly
274.68°
Distance from Earth
1.348 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 — 2.272 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 1.348 AU from Earth today (11.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 10m 48s
Declination
+04° 19′ 49″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
1.35 AU
Elongation from the Sun
150.17° — well clear of the Sun

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
2.775 AU
Eccentricity
0.3935
Inclination
29.85°
Orbital period
4.62 years
Perihelion
1.683 AU
Aphelion
3.867 AU
Longitude of ascending node
191.8°
Argument of periapsis
254.57°
Epoch · J2000
2458045.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 346.7 LD
0.8909 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.04

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
178
Data arc
137 days
First observed
25 September 2017
Last observed
9 February 2018
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 July 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
18.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2017 S8

Named

Sources