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Comet

Wiegert-PANSTARRS

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351P/Wiegert-PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.145 AU
True anomaly
94.27°
Distance from Earth
3.251 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Wiegert-PANSTARRS — 4.145 AU from the Sun Wiegert-PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Wiegert-PANSTARRS is 3.251 AU from Earth today (27.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 48m 29s
Declination
+16° 35′ 37″
Constellation
Pegasus
Distance from Earth
3.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
149.72° — 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
4.44 AU
Eccentricity
0.2949
Inclination
12.78°
Orbital period
9.36 years
Perihelion
3.131 AU
Aphelion
5.749 AU
Longitude of ascending node
283.4°
Argument of periapsis
352.64°
Epoch · J2000
2460260.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 822.5 LD
2.1135 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.894

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
351
Data arc
27.97 years
First observed
18 October 1998
Last observed
7 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 21.3
5.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 351P · 351P/1998 U8 · 351P/2007 R11 · 351P/2016 P2

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2050-03-04 06:21:00 Juptr 1.2107 AU 471.2 LD 6.8 km/s
2085-09-05 01:26:00 Juptr 0.7674 AU 298.7 LD 5.7 km/s
2107-10-14 22:04:00 Juptr 1.1886 AU 462.6 LD 6.5 km/s
2144-02-12 05:48:00 Juptr 0.4353 AU 169.4 LD 4.3 km/s
2144-02-12 05:48:00 Jupiter 0.4353 AU 169.4 LD 4.3 km/s
2175-10-06 05:32:00 Juptr 1.8943 AU 737.2 LD 5.2 km/s
2179-12-15 20:36:00 Jupiter 0.3425 AU 133.3 LD 4.6 km/s
2179-12-15 20:36:00 Juptr 0.3425 AU 133.3 LD 4.6 km/s

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

Sources