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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2019 U4 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.316 AU
True anomaly
68.17°
Distance from Earth
2.198 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 — 2.316 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 2.198 AU from Earth today (18.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 38m 37s
Declination
+09° 47′ 03″
Constellation
Canis Minor
Distance from Earth
2.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
84.31° — 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
3.52 AU
Eccentricity
0.4752
Inclination
11.69°
Orbital period
6.6 years
Perihelion
1.847 AU
Aphelion
5.192 AU
Longitude of ascending node
200.04°
Argument of periapsis
180.96°
Epoch · J2000
2458775.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 330.6 LD
0.8495 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.896

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
53
Data arc
34 days
First observed
24 September 2019
Last observed
28 October 2019
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 November 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
18.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2019 U4

Named

Close approaches 2 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-01-09 16:15:00 Juptr 0.8196 AU 319.0 LD 5.1 km/s

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

Sources