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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2021 P3 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.821 AU
True anomaly
195.26°
Distance from Earth
6.607 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 — 5.821 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 6.607 AU from Earth today (55.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 46m 53s
Declination
+05° 59′ 16″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
6.6 AU
Elongation from the Sun
35.61° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
4.422 AU
Eccentricity
0.3405
Inclination
27.16°
Orbital period
9.3 years
Perihelion
2.916 AU
Aphelion
5.927 AU
Longitude of ascending node
358.24°
Argument of periapsis
334.24°
Epoch · J2000
2459466.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 751.0 LD
1.9298 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.719

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
104
Data arc
96 days
First observed
3 August 2021
Last observed
7 November 2021
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 April 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
13.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 P3

Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2059-01-01 11:27:00 Juptr 1.9929 AU 775.6 LD 9.3 km/s
2063-11-27 15:18:00 Jupiter 0.3428 AU 133.4 LD 6.4 km/s
2063-11-27 15:18:00 Juptr 0.3428 AU 133.4 LD 6.4 km/s

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

Sources