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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2015 R1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.149 AU
True anomaly
217.01°
Distance from Earth
8.134 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 — 7.149 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 8.134 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 54m 34s
Declination
-03° 48′ 56″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
8.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
7.75° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
5.898 AU
Eccentricity
0.6329
Inclination
22.67°
Orbital period
14.32 years
Perihelion
2.165 AU
Aphelion
9.631 AU
Longitude of ascending node
48.51°
Argument of periapsis
300.54°
Epoch · J2000
2457313.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 487.8 LD
1.2535 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.404

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
257
Data arc
127 days
First observed
8 September 2015
Last observed
13 January 2016
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10.8
13.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2015 R1

Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-02-21 21:10:00 Juptr 0.7184 AU 279.6 LD 8 km/s
2060-06-22 13:05:00 Juptr 1.6061 AU 625.1 LD 8.7 km/s
2069-12-16 05:36:00 Satrn 1.9965 AU 777.0 LD 5.9 km/s

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

Sources