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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2021 A5 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.746 AU
True anomaly
50.52°
Distance from Earth
2.486 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 — 2.746 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 2.486 AU from Earth today (20.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 11m 42s
Declination
+41° 13′ 49″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
2.48 AU
Elongation from the Sun
94.56° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
3.052 AU
Eccentricity
0.1409
Inclination
18.19°
Orbital period
5.33 years
Perihelion
2.622 AU
Aphelion
3.482 AU
Longitude of ascending node
328.72°
Argument of periapsis
61.51°
Epoch · J2000
2459219.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 652.0 LD
1.6754 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.146

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
47
Data arc
43 days
First observed
3 December 2020
Last observed
15 January 2021
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 January 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
15

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 A5

Named

Sources