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Comet

PANSTARRS

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P/2024 O2 (PANSTARRS)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.263 AU
True anomaly
103.28°
Distance from Earth
5.468 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 — 6.263 AU from the Sun PANSTARRS
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. PANSTARRS is 5.468 AU from Earth today (45.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 30m 54s
Declination
+46° 36′ 51″
Constellation
Perseus
Distance from Earth
5.47 AU
Elongation from the Sun
140.12° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
7.388 AU
Eccentricity
0.4995
Inclination
28.97°
Orbital period
20.08 years
Perihelion
3.698 AU
Aphelion
11.078 AU
Longitude of ascending node
6.81°
Argument of periapsis
310.79°
Epoch · J2000
2460547.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,078.0 LD
2.7699 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.51

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
62
Data arc
114 days
First observed
30 June 2024
Last observed
22 October 2024
Residual RMS
0.18 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 October 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
12.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2024 O2

Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2039-04-08 04:19:00 Satrn 0.7391 AU 287.6 LD 7 km/s
2041-06-01 02:24:00 Juptr 1.777 AU 691.6 LD 7.3 km/s
2098-02-25 04:45:00 Satrn 0.667 AU 259.6 LD 6.6 km/s
2100-08-29 14:48:00 Juptr 1.67 AU 649.9 LD 8.1 km/s

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

Sources