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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2014 S3 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 2.05 AU to 174.29 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 827.9 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 7 June 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
26.845 AU
True anomaly
150.38°
Distance from Earth
27.328 AU
As of
24 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 26.845 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 27.328 AU from Earth today (3.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 03m 13s
Declination
-13° 01′ 13″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
27.34 AU
Elongation from the Sun
59.33° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
88.168 AU
Eccentricity
0.9768
Inclination
169.32°
Orbital period
827.9 years
Perihelion
2.049 AU
Aphelion
174.288 AU
Longitude of ascending node
356.05°
Argument of periapsis
293.14°
Epoch · J2000
2456938.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 423.9 LD
1.0893 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-1.675

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
48
Data arc
57 days
First observed
22 September 2014
Last observed
18 November 2014
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 June 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 8.8
17.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2014 S3

Named

Sources