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Comet

WISE-PANSTARRS

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504P/WISE-PANSTARRS

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.99 AU
True anomaly
122.16°
Distance from Earth
4.239 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 WISE-PANSTARRS — 3.99 AU from the Sun WISE-PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. WISE-PANSTARRS is 4.239 AU from Earth today (35.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 33m 10s
Declination
-15° 24′ 02″
Constellation
Scutum
Distance from Earth
4.25 AU
Elongation from the Sun
68.57° — well clear of the Sun

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
3.745 AU
Eccentricity
0.406
Inclination
8.81°
Orbital period
7.25 years
Perihelion
2.224 AU
Aphelion
5.265 AU
Longitude of ascending node
221.12°
Argument of periapsis
308.5°
Epoch · J2000
2460616.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 483.1 LD
1.2414 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.922

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
411
Data arc
15.08 years
First observed
14 June 2010
Last observed
12 July 2025
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 August 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
4.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 35.3
4.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 504P · 504P/2010 LH155

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2058-01-13 03:57:00 Juptr 0.7506 AU 292.1 LD 4 km/s
2117-03-01 22:36:00 Juptr 0.7841 AU 305.2 LD 4.1 km/s
2141-07-19 00:11:00 Juptr 0.9796 AU 381.2 LD 7.5 km/s
2176-02-03 20:29:00 Juptr 0.8605 AU 334.9 LD 4.4 km/s
2200-10-05 06:29:00 Juptr 1.0922 AU 425.1 LD 7.7 km/s

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

Sources