Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

PANSTARRS

Add to an observing list or journal →

P/2017 G2 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
13.07 AU
True anomaly
170.09°
Distance from Earth
12.531 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 — 13.07 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 12.531 AU from Earth today (1.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 27m 11s
Declination
-46° 45′ 57″
Constellation
Phoenix
Distance from Earth
12.53 AU
Elongation from the Sun
120.85° — 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
8.139 AU
Eccentricity
0.6503
Inclination
47.91°
Orbital period
23.22 years
Perihelion
2.846 AU
Aphelion
13.433 AU
Longitude of ascending node
79.82°
Argument of periapsis
105.94°
Epoch · J2000
2457889.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 853.9 LD
2.1941 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.913

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
165
Data arc
130 days
First observed
18 March 2017
Last observed
26 July 2017
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
12.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2017 G2

Named

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2061-01-20 08:26:00 Juptr 1.8006 AU 700.7 LD 11.1 km/s
2084-08-29 05:08:00 Juptr 1.101 AU 428.5 LD 12.1 km/s

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

Sources