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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2012 B1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.716 AU
True anomaly
241.37°
Distance from Earth
6.13 AU
As of
22 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 6.716 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 6.13 AU from Earth today (51.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
05h 44m 47s
Declination
+29° 09′ 49″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
6.11 AU
Elongation from the Sun
123.4° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
6.489 AU
Eccentricity
0.4105
Inclination
7.63°
Orbital period
16.53 years
Perihelion
3.825 AU
Aphelion
9.153 AU
Longitude of ascending node
36.19°
Argument of periapsis
162.18°
Epoch · J2000
2456328.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,099.0 LD
2.824 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.82

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,189
Data arc
18.02 years
First observed
1 June 1997
Last observed
10 June 2015
Residual RMS
0.53 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 May 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.8
6.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2012 B1

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-12-09 04:40:00 Juptr 0.6119 AU 238.1 LD 5.8 km/s
2058-03-24 02:36:00 Satrn 1.4164 AU 551.2 LD 3.9 km/s
2062-09-19 22:58:00 Juptr 1.2052 AU 469.0 LD 4.7 km/s
2150-05-28 23:35:00 Juptr 0.6613 AU 257.4 LD 5.6 km/s
2174-01-30 20:25:00 Satrn 0.6032 AU 234.8 LD 2.7 km/s
2180-02-15 00:01:00 Juptr 0.5568 AU 216.7 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources