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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2023 X3 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.811 AU
True anomaly
131.25°
Distance from Earth
5.73 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 — 4.811 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.73 AU from Earth today (47.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 10m 57s
Declination
-17° 15′ 02″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
5.73 AU
Elongation from the Sun
20.08° — 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
4.251 AU
Eccentricity
0.2871
Inclination
4.48°
Orbital period
8.76 years
Perihelion
3.03 AU
Aphelion
5.471 AU
Longitude of ascending node
62.01°
Argument of periapsis
40.77°
Epoch · J2000
2460279.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 797.3 LD
2.0488 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.95

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
56
Data arc
57 days
First observed
22 October 2023
Last observed
18 December 2023
Residual RMS
0.33 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 December 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
14.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2023 X3

Named

Close approaches 2 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2078-10-29 12:20:00 Juptr 1.0028 AU 390.3 LD 5.9 km/s
2084-03-15 09:04:00 Juptr 1.8626 AU 724.9 LD 5.1 km/s

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

Sources