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Comet

PANSTARRS

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482P/PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.596 AU
True anomaly
175.03°
Distance from Earth
5.953 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 — 5.596 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.953 AU from Earth today (49.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 13m 43s
Declination
-13° 43′ 11″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
5.96 AU
Elongation from the Sun
64.03° — 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
3.762 AU
Eccentricity
0.4929
Inclination
24.52°
Orbital period
7.3 years
Perihelion
1.907 AU
Aphelion
5.616 AU
Longitude of ascending node
126.22°
Argument of periapsis
339.38°
Epoch · J2000
2459655.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 365.3 LD
0.9386 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.729

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
97
Data arc
9.5 years
First observed
10 November 2014
Last observed
10 May 2024
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 May 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
17

Discovery & classification

Also known as 482P · 482P/2014 VF40

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2056-01-05 05:10:00 Juptr 1.0745 AU 418.2 LD 6.3 km/s
2080-03-28 06:19:00 Juptr 1.6192 AU 630.2 LD 10.1 km/s
2115-08-16 00:06:00 Juptr 0.6517 AU 253.6 LD 6.2 km/s
2139-07-16 20:21:00 Juptr 1.2314 AU 479.2 LD 9 km/s
2174-05-11 23:03:00 Juptr 1.4476 AU 563.4 LD 7.1 km/s
2198-11-11 07:26:00 Jupiter 0.2996 AU 116.6 LD 7.2 km/s
2198-11-11 07:26:00 Juptr 0.2996 AU 116.6 LD 7.2 km/s

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

Sources