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Comet

PANSTARRS

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C/2024 PN7 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.52 AU to 133.37 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 554 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 31 July 2025.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.22 AU
True anomaly
126.58°
Distance from Earth
7.992 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 — 7.22 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 7.992 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 25m 58s
Declination
-16° 25′ 59″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
7.99 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.3° — 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
67.449 AU
Eccentricity
0.9774
Inclination
101.21°
Orbital period
554 years
Perihelion
1.525 AU
Aphelion
133.373 AU
Longitude of ascending node
358.58°
Argument of periapsis
74.27°
Epoch · J2000
2460635.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 395.2 LD
1.0156 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.219

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
361
Data arc
254 days
First observed
15 August 2024
Last observed
26 April 2025
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 July 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10.5
15.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2024 PN7

Named

Sources