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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2021 R3 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.268 AU
True anomaly
230.36°
Distance from Earth
5.101 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 — 4.268 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.101 AU from Earth today (42.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 47m 13s
Declination
-13° 04′ 27″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
5.1 AU
Elongation from the Sun
30.2° — 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
3.78 AU
Eccentricity
0.3319
Inclination
19.93°
Orbital period
7.35 years
Perihelion
2.526 AU
Aphelion
5.035 AU
Longitude of ascending node
304.25°
Argument of periapsis
3.02°
Epoch · J2000
2459454.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 587.9 LD
1.5107 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.888

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
63
Data arc
107 days
First observed
9 July 2021
Last observed
24 October 2021
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 November 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
18.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2021 R3

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2062-01-26 03:56:00 Juptr 0.9835 AU 382.7 LD 6 km/s
2097-08-16 05:20:00 Juptr 1.6535 AU 643.5 LD 7.4 km/s
2145-01-08 22:50:00 Juptr 1.026 AU 399.3 LD 6.1 km/s

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

Sources