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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2022 D1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
9.392 AU
True anomaly
144.94°
Distance from Earth
9.834 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 — 9.392 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 9.834 AU from Earth today (1.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 37m 45s
Declination
-55° 42′ 28″
Constellation
Ara
Distance from Earth
9.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.89° — 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
7.401 AU
Eccentricity
0.547
Inclination
44.06°
Orbital period
20.14 years
Perihelion
3.353 AU
Aphelion
11.45 AU
Longitude of ascending node
47.97°
Argument of periapsis
88.71°
Epoch · J2000
2459647.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,062.8 LD
2.731 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.138

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
97
Data arc
111 days
First observed
19 January 2022
Last observed
10 May 2022
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 May 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2022 D1

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2059-12-20 17:46:00 Juptr 1.5089 AU 587.2 LD 10.4 km/s
2125-07-03 01:25:00 Juptr 1.4683 AU 571.4 LD 14.6 km/s
2143-01-03 17:55:00 Juptr 1.5504 AU 603.4 LD 10.3 km/s

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

Sources