Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

PANSTARRS

Add to an observing list or journal →

469P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.419 AU
True anomaly
62.32°
Distance from Earth
3.759 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 — 3.419 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 3.759 AU from Earth today (31.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 03m 07s
Declination
-05° 57′ 45″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
3.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
62.32° — 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
4.335 AU
Eccentricity
0.3116
Inclination
20.17°
Orbital period
9.03 years
Perihelion
2.984 AU
Aphelion
5.685 AU
Longitude of ascending node
179.03°
Argument of periapsis
43.96°
Epoch · J2000
2457212.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 784.8 LD
2.0165 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.829

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
80
Data arc
6.73 years
First observed
13 September 2010
Last observed
5 June 2017
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 January 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.8
14.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 469P · 469P/2015 XG422

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2046-06-04 15:53:00 Juptr 1.0979 AU 427.3 LD 8.3 km/s
2093-10-01 22:39:00 Juptr 0.2087 AU 81.2 LD 6.2 km/s
2093-10-01 22:39:00 Jupiter 0.2087 AU 81.2 LD 6.2 km/s
2176-12-25 17:10:00 Juptr 0.7177 AU 279.3 LD 5.5 km/s
2200-12-01 04:03:00 Juptr 0.9674 AU 376.5 LD 5.5 km/s

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

Sources