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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2014 W4 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.423 AU
True anomaly
206.68°
Distance from Earth
8.343 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 — 8.423 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 8.343 AU from Earth today (1.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 27m 10s
Declination
-34° 58′ 01″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
8.36 AU
Elongation from the Sun
90.29° — well clear of the Sun

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
6.587 AU
Eccentricity
0.3531
Inclination
15.27°
Orbital period
16.9 years
Perihelion
4.261 AU
Aphelion
8.912 AU
Longitude of ascending node
33.35°
Argument of periapsis
67.41°
Epoch · J2000
2457279.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,289.9 LD
3.3145 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.821

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
91
Data arc
887 days
First observed
25 October 2014
Last observed
30 March 2017
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 15.5
7.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2014 W4

Named

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2052-05-08 00:40:00 Juptr 0.9146 AU 355.9 LD 4.2 km/s
2135-06-11 10:34:00 Juptr 1.4843 AU 577.6 LD 3.8 km/s

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

Sources