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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2018 A5 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.809 AU
True anomaly
204.86°
Distance from Earth
8.02 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 7.809 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 8.02 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 02m 50s
Declination
-32° 00′ 38″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
8.03 AU
Elongation from the Sun
73.47° — well clear of the Sun

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
5.648 AU
Eccentricity
0.523
Inclination
23.58°
Orbital period
13.42 years
Perihelion
2.694 AU
Aphelion
8.602 AU
Longitude of ascending node
87.83°
Argument of periapsis
359.68°
Epoch · J2000
2458098.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 665.4 LD
1.7099 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.549

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
36
Data arc
393 days
First observed
23 December 2016
Last observed
20 January 2018
Residual RMS
0.24 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
17.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2018 A5

Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2069-05-22 23:19:00 Juptr 1.9319 AU 751.8 LD 5.6 km/s
2100-11-10 09:12:00 Juptr 1.9392 AU 754.7 LD 8.9 km/s
2105-08-26 04:44:00 Satrn 1.5314 AU 596.0 LD 3.8 km/s

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

Sources