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Comet

Spacewatch-PANSTARRS

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491P/Spacewatch-PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.85 AU
True anomaly
97.89°
Distance from Earth
4.155 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 Spacewatch-PANSTARRS — 4.85 AU from the Sun Spacewatch-PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Spacewatch-PANSTARRS is 4.155 AU from Earth today (34.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 33m 05s
Declination
-02° 04′ 15″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
4.17 AU
Elongation from the Sun
128.75° — 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
5.013 AU
Eccentricity
0.2589
Inclination
9.37°
Orbital period
11.22 years
Perihelion
3.715 AU
Aphelion
6.311 AU
Longitude of ascending node
311.73°
Argument of periapsis
299.02°
Epoch · J2000
2459957.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,056.7 LD
2.7153 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.909

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
722
Data arc
13.43 years
First observed
4 May 2013
Last observed
9 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
13.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 491P · 491P/2014 MG4 · 491P/2024 K2

Named

Close approaches 18 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2081-11-03 15:56:00 Juptr 1.0196 AU 396.8 LD 6.4 km/s
2093-03-25 17:18:00 Juptr 0.5994 AU 233.3 LD 4.3 km/s
2104-09-09 06:15:00 Juptr 0.7687 AU 299.2 LD 3.5 km/s
2114-11-02 04:26:00 Juptr 1.4479 AU 563.5 LD 4.5 km/s
2118-07-03 12:35:00 Juptr 1.4624 AU 569.1 LD 3.5 km/s
2124-12-07 11:47:00 Juptr 1.8028 AU 701.6 LD 5.1 km/s
2131-08-20 09:15:00 Juptr 1.2935 AU 503.4 LD 3.5 km/s
2134-11-09 08:28:00 Juptr 1.5368 AU 598.1 LD 3.5 km/s
2144-06-04 15:57:00 Juptr 0.6805 AU 264.8 LD 3.3 km/s
2154-08-08 03:04:00 Juptr 1.737 AU 676.0 LD 3.6 km/s

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

Sources