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Comet

PANSTARRS

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480P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.451 AU
True anomaly
144.44°
Distance from Earth
6.406 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 — 5.451 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 6.406 AU from Earth today (53.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 47m 27s
Declination
-16° 51′ 15″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
6.41 AU
Elongation from the Sun
14.51° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
4.65 AU
Eccentricity
0.2418
Inclination
13.7°
Orbital period
10.03 years
Perihelion
3.526 AU
Aphelion
5.775 AU
Longitude of ascending node
230.46°
Argument of periapsis
212.1°
Epoch · J2000
2458340.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 992.3 LD
2.5497 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.901

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
95
Data arc
11.14 years
First observed
9 January 2014
Last observed
28 February 2025
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 March 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8
13.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 480P · 480P/2014 A3 · 480P/2023 X6

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2066-02-19 16:06:00 Juptr 1.9442 AU 756.6 LD 8.2 km/s
2073-11-07 12:52:00 Juptr 1.8626 AU 724.9 LD 4.5 km/s
2081-01-13 10:42:00 Juptr 1.3206 AU 513.9 LD 4.6 km/s
2125-01-27 23:06:00 Juptr 0.0272 AU 10.6 LD 8.9 km/s
2125-01-27 23:06:00 Jupiter 0.0272 AU 10.6 LD 8.9 km/s

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

Sources