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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2023 T1 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.878 AU
True anomaly
133.08°
Distance from Earth
5.839 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 — 4.878 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.839 AU from Earth today (48.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 39m 36s
Declination
-17° 53′ 39″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
5.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.33° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
4.238 AU
Eccentricity
0.3353
Inclination
6.61°
Orbital period
8.72 years
Perihelion
2.817 AU
Aphelion
5.658 AU
Longitude of ascending node
249.59°
Argument of periapsis
202.87°
Epoch · J2000
2460242.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 714.2 LD
1.8353 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.917

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
118
Data arc
179 days
First observed
16 July 2023
Last observed
11 January 2024
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 January 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 24.8
6.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2023 T1

Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2056-08-05 14:55:00 Juptr 0.7684 AU 299.0 LD 5 km/s
2103-09-16 12:09:00 Juptr 1.0519 AU 409.4 LD 6.3 km/s

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

Sources