Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

PANSTARRS

Add to an observing list or journal →

386P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.627 AU
True anomaly
228.44°
Distance from Earth
3.854 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 PANSTARRS — 4.627 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.854 AU from Earth today (32.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 32m 50s
Declination
-16° 10′ 03″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
3.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
136.04° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
4.052 AU
Eccentricity
0.4178
Inclination
15.24°
Orbital period
8.16 years
Perihelion
2.359 AU
Aphelion
5.745 AU
Longitude of ascending node
134.98°
Argument of periapsis
353.35°
Epoch · J2000
2457295.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 535.5 LD
1.3761 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.831

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
118
Data arc
17.24 years
First observed
14 February 2004
Last observed
12 May 2021
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 May 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.8
13.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 386P · 386P/2011 U1

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-01-15 16:32:00 Juptr 0.6332 AU 246.4 LD 4.9 km/s
2055-08-22 04:16:00 Juptr 1.4676 AU 571.1 LD 8 km/s
2093-01-22 16:53:00 Juptr 0.7502 AU 292.0 LD 6.5 km/s
2116-08-10 20:04:00 Juptr 0.4747 AU 184.7 LD 5.5 km/s
2116-08-10 20:04:00 Jupiter 0.4747 AU 184.7 LD 5.5 km/s
2140-04-27 00:57:00 Juptr 1.4636 AU 569.6 LD 9.1 km/s
2174-06-11 19:39:00 Juptr 1.3901 AU 541.0 LD 9.1 km/s
2198-02-20 20:49:00 Juptr 0.3962 AU 154.2 LD 5.8 km/s
2198-02-20 20:49:00 Jupiter 0.3962 AU 154.2 LD 5.8 km/s

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

Sources