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Comet Near-Earth

PANSTARRS

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P/2024 OC2 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.648 AU
True anomaly
177.88°
Distance from Earth
5.613 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 — 4.648 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.613 AU from Earth today (46.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 02m 07s
Declination
-05° 51′ 13″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
5.61 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.04° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
2.626 AU
Eccentricity
0.7742
Inclination
7.67°
Orbital period
4.26 years
Perihelion
0.593 AU
Aphelion
4.659 AU
Longitude of ascending node
136.62°
Argument of periapsis
258.54°
Epoch · J2000
2460542.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 7.9 LD
0.0203 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.873

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
43
Data arc
177 days
First observed
9 July 2024
Last observed
2 January 2025
Residual RMS
0.61 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 January 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
20.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.8
20.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2024 OC2

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 31 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2058-12-04 13:14:00 Venus 0.136 AU 52.9 LD 25.7 km/s
2059-02-16 20:27:00 Mars 0.033 AU 12.8 LD 19.9 km/s
2063-01-28 08:18:00 Venus 0.1258 AU 49.0 LD 16.6 km/s
2065-05-15 16:04:00 Juptr 0.9672 AU 376.4 LD 6.1 km/s
2067-04-22 21:33:00 Venus 0.0907 AU 35.3 LD 25.2 km/s
2076-01-29 13:42:00 Mars 0.096 AU 37.4 LD 21.6 km/s
2077-04-23 23:43:00 Juptr 1.654 AU 643.7 LD 9.1 km/s
2105-09-06 17:51:00 Venus 0.1384 AU 53.9 LD 25.8 km/s
2109-11-21 16:22:00 Venus 0.1407 AU 54.8 LD 16.4 km/s
2112-09-12 05:36:00 Juptr 1.7764 AU 691.3 LD 9.4 km/s

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

Sources