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Comets » 

Comet 364P/PANSTARRS

Above the horizon.  Rise: 9:25 | Tran: 17:30 | Set: 1:38
Alt: 60.50°   Az: 196.32°   Direction: South-South-West

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 in the constellation of Aries, at a distance of 701,165,487.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 22m 00s and the Declination is +22° 44’ 45” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS is 25.73 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 364P/PANSTARRS in Aries on February, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 364P/PANSTARRS in Aries on February, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High 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: 03h 20m 32s
Dec: +22° 39’ 23”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 364P/PANSTARRS. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

03h 22m 00s
+22° 44’ 45”
00h 34m 30s
03h 56m 31s

J2000

03h 20m 32s
+22° 39’ 23”

Additional Information

Aries
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.73

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.

Rise and Set Times

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

Azimuth: 67.3°
Max altitude: 61.3°
Azimuth: 292.7°
  • 364P/PANSTARRS is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-West direction at an altitude of 60.50° 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.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS from Earth is currently 701,165,487.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.6870017850 Astronomical Units. Light takes 38m 58.836s to travel from Comet 364P/PANSTARRS and arrive to us.

701,165,487.0
4.6870017850
38m 58.836s

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

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS to Earth happens on Sat Apr 8 2023 at a distance of 0.120732 Astronomical Units, or 18,061,227 kilometers:

Sat Apr 8 2023
18,061,227
0.120732

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

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 364P/PANSTARRS at epoch 18 February 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458898.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.72258546
Orbit inclination i 12.15008512°
Perihelion distance q 0.79853752 AU
119,459,514 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.95846081 AU
741,775,180 km
Semi-major axis a 2.87849917 AU
430,617,347 km
Orbital period period 4.8838 years
1,783.8059 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2018-Jun-24 08:55:28
2,458,293.8719 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-May-13 04:15
2,460,077.6777 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 211.96613622523°
Longitude of the ascending node node 46.21758462148°
Mean anomaly M 122.02344132044°
Mean motion n 0.20181568°/day

Orbit Visualization

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

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. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 10 03h 19m 57s +22° 39’ 22” 25.65 Aries
2025 Feb 11 03h 20m 10s +22° 39’ 53” 25.66 Aries
2025 Feb 12 03h 20m 24s +22° 40’ 28” 25.67 Aries
2025 Feb 13 03h 20m 39s +22° 41’ 05” 25.68 Aries
2025 Feb 14 03h 20m 55s +22° 41’ 46” 25.69 Aries
2025 Feb 15 03h 21m 11s +22° 42’ 30” 25.70 Aries
2025 Feb 16 03h 21m 28s +22° 43’ 16” 25.71 Aries
2025 Feb 17 03h 21m 46s +22° 44’ 06” 25.72 Aries
2025 Feb 18 03h 22m 05s +22° 44’ 58” 25.73 Aries
2025 Feb 19 03h 22m 24s +22° 45’ 54” 25.74 Aries
2025 Feb 20 03h 22m 44s +22° 46’ 51” 25.75 Aries
2025 Feb 21 03h 23m 05s +22° 47’ 51” 25.76 Aries
2025 Feb 22 03h 23m 27s +22° 48’ 56” 25.77 Aries
2025 Feb 23 03h 23m 49s +22° 50’ 01” 25.78 Aries

Additional Resources