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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
SunriseRise: 6:04  
clear_day Transit: 12:06  
SunsetSet: 18:09
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
Comets » 

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS

Altitude: 39.1°   Azimuth: 126.2°   Direction: South-East

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 4.9 years. It was discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey on February 13, 2013. It has a highly elliptical orbit with a perihelion distance of 0.8 astronomical units (AU) and an aphelion distance of 4.9 AU. The comet is classified as a Jupiter-family comet, meaning its orbit is controlled and highly influenced by Jupiter's gravity. The next perihelion passage happens on May 11, 2023, and the next one after that will happen in April 2028.

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS is currently in the constellation of Aries, at a distance of 616,680,109 kilometers from Earth.

Finder chart of 364P/PANSTARRS in Aries on March,19 2024
Map showing Comet 364P/PANSTARRS in Aries on March, 19 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
The current Right Ascension of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS is 02h 04m 28s and the Declination is +11° 59’ 49” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS is 25.44 (JPL).

02h 04m 28s
+11° 59’ 49”
Aries
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.44

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 78.0°
Max altitude: 50.5°
Azimuth: 282.0°
  • 364P/PANSTARRS is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 39° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 364P/PANSTARRS is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Additional Resources

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS Position and Finder Charts

Finder chart of 364P/PANSTARRS
Map showing Comet 364P/PANSTARRS in Aries on March, 19 2024
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 364P/PANSTARRS is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

364P/PANSTARRS
RA: 02h 04m 28s
Dec: +11° 59’ 49”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 364P/PANSTARRS
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Comet 364P/PANSTARRS?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 364P/PANSTARRS in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS from Earth is currently 616,680,109 kilometers, equivalent to 4.122252 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34 minutes and 17.0234 seconds to travel from Comet 364P/PANSTARRS and arrive to us.

616,680,109
4.122252
34 minutes and 17.0234 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 364P/PANSTARRS from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS to Earth happens on Sat Apr 8 2023 at a distance of 0.120731 Astronomical Units, or 18,061,047 kilometers:

Sat Apr 8 2023
18,061,047
0.120731

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS Brightness and Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS as a function of time

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS at epoch 12 May 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457886.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.72258802
Orbit inclination i 12.15537139°
Perihelion distance q 0.79809092 AU
119,392,703 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.95574082 AU
741,368,275 km
Semi-major axis a 2.87691587 AU
430,380,489 km
Orbital period period 4.8798 years
1,782.3343 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2018-Jun-24 09:34:07
2,458,293.8987 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-May-11 17:35
2,460,076.2330 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 211.92656439741°
Longitude of the ascending node node 46.228328327998°
Mean anomaly M 277.71267078185°
Mean motion n 0.20198231°/day

Visualization of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Orbit Diagram of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS
View Comet 364P/PANSTARRS in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 364P/PANSTARRS in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2024 Mar 12 01h 56m 18s +11° 06’ 42” 25.32 Aries
2024 Mar 13 01h 57m 24s +11° 13’ 53” 25.33 Aries
2024 Mar 14 01h 58m 28s +11° 21’ 02” 25.35 Aries
2024 Mar 15 01h 59m 35s +11° 28’ 09” 25.37 Aries
2024 Mar 16 02h 00m 39s +11° 35’ 16” 25.39 Aries
2024 Mar 17 02h 01m 45s +11° 42’ 20” 25.40 Aries
2024 Mar 18 02h 02m 50s +11° 49’ 24” 25.42 Aries
2024 Mar 19 02h 03m 56s +11° 56’ 27” 25.44 Aries
2024 Mar 20 02h 05m 02s +12° 03’ 29” 25.45 Aries
2024 Mar 21 02h 06m 07s +12° 10’ 27” 25.47 Aries
2024 Mar 22 02h 07m 14s +12° 17’ 26” 25.49 Aries
2024 Mar 23 02h 08m 20s +12° 24’ 24” 25.50 Aries
2024 Mar 24 02h 09m 25s +12° 31’ 18” 25.52 Aries
2024 Mar 25 02h 10m 32s +12° 38’ 12” 25.53 Aries