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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2024 R1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.862 AU
True anomaly
159.83°
Distance from Earth
5.069 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 — 4.862 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.069 AU from Earth today (42.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 41m 01s
Declination
+24° 41′ 11″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
5.06 AU
Elongation from the Sun
72.95° — 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
3.451 AU
Eccentricity
0.4929
Inclination
12.74°
Orbital period
6.41 years
Perihelion
1.75 AU
Aphelion
5.151 AU
Longitude of ascending node
84.98°
Argument of periapsis
230.58°
Epoch · J2000
2460561.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 298.1 LD
0.7661 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.89

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
46
Data arc
128 days
First observed
3 June 2024
Last observed
9 October 2024
Residual RMS
0.19 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 October 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 5.5
19.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2024 R1

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2074-08-08 07:28:00 Juptr 1.6391 AU 637.9 LD 7.3 km/s
2085-06-30 21:01:00 Juptr 0.7133 AU 277.6 LD 5.1 km/s

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

Sources