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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2019 S3 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.932 AU
True anomaly
101.49°
Distance from Earth
3.039 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 — 2.932 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.039 AU from Earth today (25.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 20m 42s
Declination
+13° 22′ 12″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
3.03 AU
Elongation from the Sun
74.75° — 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
3.413 AU
Eccentricity
0.4706
Inclination
8.69°
Orbital period
6.31 years
Perihelion
1.807 AU
Aphelion
5.02 AU
Longitude of ascending node
150.17°
Argument of periapsis
212.95°
Epoch · J2000
2458759.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 315.3 LD
0.8102 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.937

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
61
Data arc
67 days
First observed
27 August 2019
Last observed
2 November 2019
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 April 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
18

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2019 S3

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-05-13 20:28:00 Juptr 1.226 AU 477.1 LD 5.7 km/s
2087-09-22 16:29:00 Juptr 0.4384 AU 170.6 LD 3.4 km/s
2087-09-22 16:29:00 Jupiter 0.4384 AU 170.6 LD 3.4 km/s
2135-03-09 06:43:00 Juptr 0.8233 AU 320.4 LD 4.3 km/s

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

Sources