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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2014 W11 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
15.381 AU
True anomaly
166.52°
Distance from Earth
14.972 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 — 15.381 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 14.972 AU from Earth today (2.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 36m 09s
Declination
-06° 59′ 06″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
14.98 AU
Elongation from the Sun
112.27° — 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
9.797 AU
Eccentricity
0.6502
Inclination
12.71°
Orbital period
30.67 years
Perihelion
3.427 AU
Aphelion
16.168 AU
Longitude of ascending node
295.94°
Argument of periapsis
225.64°
Epoch · J2000
2457174.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 954.9 LD
2.4537 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.565

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
1,038
Data arc
707 days
First observed
22 October 2014
Last observed
28 September 2016
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.5
10.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2014 W11

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2049-06-25 11:38:00 Satrn 0.5299 AU 206.2 LD 6.4 km/s
2102-02-15 17:43:00 Juptr 1.5554 AU 605.3 LD 8.2 km/s

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

Sources