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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.8 AU
True anomaly
81.27°
Distance from Earth
7.67 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 — 6.8 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 7.67 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 47m 16s
Declination
-16° 04′ 52″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
7.67 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.02° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
7.051 AU
Eccentricity
0.1291
Inclination
14.59°
Orbital period
18.72 years
Perihelion
6.14 AU
Aphelion
7.961 AU
Longitude of ascending node
78.58°
Argument of periapsis
81.6°
Epoch · J2000
2460016.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 2,018.6 LD
5.1869 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.972

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
511
Data arc
3.3 years
First observed
13 January 2023
Last observed
2 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 May 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
6.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2023 B1

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2101-09-06 07:02:00 Juptr 1.405 AU 546.8 LD 3.1 km/s
2137-02-19 20:56:00 Juptr 1.1686 AU 454.8 LD 3.1 km/s
2173-11-04 18:08:00 Juptr 1.5718 AU 611.7 LD 3.2 km/s

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

Sources