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Comet

PANSTARRS

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476P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.693 AU
True anomaly
108.36°
Distance from Earth
5.676 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 — 4.693 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.676 AU from Earth today (47.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 19m 27s
Declination
-07° 13′ 28″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
5.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
8.04° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
4.756 AU
Eccentricity
0.3483
Inclination
18.86°
Orbital period
10.37 years
Perihelion
3.099 AU
Aphelion
6.412 AU
Longitude of ascending node
59.25°
Argument of periapsis
47.24°
Epoch · J2000
2458822.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 837.9 LD
2.1531 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.79

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
97
Data arc
10.19 years
First observed
14 January 2015
Last observed
24 March 2025
Residual RMS
0.63 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 April 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 476P · 476P/2015 HG16 · 476P/2023 W2

Named

Sources