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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2015 WZ (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.38 AU to 384.98 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 2,685 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
25.306 AU
True anomaly
153.89°
Distance from Earth
26.127 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 — 25.306 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 26.127 AU from Earth today (3.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 50m 42s
Declination
-28° 32′ 27″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
26.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
34.23° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
193.18 AU
Eccentricity
0.9929
Inclination
134.13°
Orbital period
2,685 years
Perihelion
1.377 AU
Aphelion
384.983 AU
Longitude of ascending node
40.05°
Argument of periapsis
66.71°
Epoch · J2000
2457511.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 269.5 LD
0.6924 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.984

Orbit quality

Observations used
373
Data arc
272 days
First observed
25 October 2015
Last observed
23 July 2016
Residual RMS
0.73 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 25.3
10.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2015 WZ

Named

Sources