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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2021 J2 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 4.71 AU to 229.75 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 1,269.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 6 December 2023.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
13.194 AU
True anomaly
108.27°
Distance from Earth
12.927 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 — 13.194 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 12.927 AU from Earth today (1.8 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 00m 32s
Declination
-01° 20′ 37″
Constellation
Monoceros
Distance from Earth
12.92 AU
Elongation from the Sun
104.13° — 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
117.227 AU
Eccentricity
0.9599
Inclination
156.21°
Orbital period
1,269.3 years
Perihelion
4.707 AU
Aphelion
229.748 AU
Longitude of ascending node
23.33°
Argument of periapsis
172.06°
Epoch · J2000
2459611.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,441.1 LD
3.7029 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-2.392

Orbit quality

Observations used
218
Data arc
786 days
First observed
20 March 2021
Last observed
15 May 2023
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 December 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
13.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 J2

Named

Sources