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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2024 Q1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.05 AU
True anomaly
160.04°
Distance from Earth
5.133 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 — 5.05 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.133 AU from Earth today (42.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 08m 25s
Declination
+25° 11′ 58″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
5.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
80.14° — 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
3.517 AU
Eccentricity
0.5348
Inclination
5.02°
Orbital period
6.6 years
Perihelion
1.636 AU
Aphelion
5.399 AU
Longitude of ascending node
23.14°
Argument of periapsis
284.41°
Epoch · J2000
2460560.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 245.3 LD
0.6304 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.863

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
106
Data arc
140 days
First observed
3 June 2024
Last observed
21 October 2024
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 October 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
18.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2024 Q1

Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2062-08-15 03:24:00 Juptr 1.6552 AU 644.1 LD 9.4 km/s
2073-07-02 06:07:00 Jupiter 0.4482 AU 174.4 LD 5.1 km/s
2073-07-02 06:07:00 Juptr 0.4482 AU 174.4 LD 5.1 km/s

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

Sources