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Comet

PANSTARRS

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441P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.698 AU
True anomaly
67.38°
Distance from Earth
2.705 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 — 3.698 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 2.705 AU from Earth today (22.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 55m 27s
Declination
+08° 22′ 59″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
2.71 AU
Elongation from the Sun
176.78° — near opposition — up most of the night

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
4.135 AU
Eccentricity
0.1956
Inclination
2.57°
Orbital period
8.41 years
Perihelion
3.326 AU
Aphelion
4.943 AU
Longitude of ascending node
143.61°
Argument of periapsis
178.77°
Epoch · J2000
2459792.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 900.2 LD
2.3132 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.005

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
249
Data arc
16.13 years
First observed
25 September 2009
Last observed
10 November 2025
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 441P · 441P/2017 R1 · 441P/2022 B2

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2035-02-22 13:02:00 Juptr 1.355 AU 527.3 LD 2.8 km/s
2038-04-20 18:18:00 Juptr 1.7752 AU 690.9 LD 5.2 km/s
2062-10-03 16:26:00 Jupiter 0.2885 AU 112.3 LD 2.7 km/s
2062-10-03 16:26:00 Juptr 0.2885 AU 112.3 LD 2.7 km/s
2145-11-13 18:41:00 Juptr 0.6487 AU 252.5 LD 3.3 km/s

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

Sources