Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

PANSTARRS

Add to an observing list or journal →

P/2017 P1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
9.878 AU
True anomaly
155.04°
Distance from Earth
10.218 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth PANSTARRS — 9.878 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 10.218 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 36m 02s
Declination
+06° 29′ 32″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
10.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
67.54° — well clear of the Sun

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
7.864 AU
Eccentricity
0.3085
Inclination
7.7°
Orbital period
22.05 years
Perihelion
5.438 AU
Aphelion
10.29 AU
Longitude of ascending node
221.39°
Argument of periapsis
122.27°
Epoch · J2000
2457994.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,727.2 LD
4.4382 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.979

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
46
Data arc
446 days
First observed
25 June 2017
Last observed
14 September 2018
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
14.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2017 P1

Named

Sources