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Comet

PANSTARRS

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400P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.251 AU
True anomaly
257.58°
Distance from Earth
3.165 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 — 3.251 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.165 AU from Earth today (26.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 43m 22s
Declination
-13° 28′ 55″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
3.17 AU
Elongation from the Sun
85.74° — well clear of the Sun

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
3.56 AU
Eccentricity
0.409
Inclination
10.93°
Orbital period
6.72 years
Perihelion
2.104 AU
Aphelion
5.017 AU
Longitude of ascending node
176.41°
Argument of periapsis
238.71°
Epoch · J2000
2458906.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 442.6 LD
1.1372 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.944

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
414
Data arc
8.53 years
First observed
15 August 2013
Last observed
24 February 2022
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 October 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.3
13.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 400P · 400P/2013 PA104 · 400P/2020 R1

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-04-13 01:35:00 Juptr 1.8166 AU 707.0 LD 7.4 km/s
2066-03-27 01:44:00 Juptr 1.4414 AU 561.0 LD 4.8 km/s
2125-01-24 08:17:00 Juptr 1.3908 AU 541.3 LD 6.1 km/s
2128-01-20 20:57:00 Juptr 1.8832 AU 732.9 LD 3.5 km/s
2172-08-19 03:38:00 Juptr 1.8546 AU 721.8 LD 7.5 km/s

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

Sources