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Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 11:17 | Tran: 13:49 | Set: 16:21
Alt: -10.67°   Az: 231.02°   Direction: South-West

Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) is a comet discovered by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) on January 10, 2022. The comet has a parabolic-like and retrograde orbit with a perihelion distance of 1.73 astronomical units (AU). It has reached its maximum brightness in January 2023, during its perihelion passage, and now it is becoming fainter as it is moving away from the sun.

Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Sculptor, at a distance of 1,255,639,535.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 28m 50s and the Declination is -31° 59’ 50” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) is 22.80 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) in Sculptor on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) in Sculptor on February, 14 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 23h 27m 30s
Dec: -32° 08’ 08”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 28m 50s
-31° 59’ 50”
04h 17m 03s
03h 45m 53s

J2000

23h 27m 30s
-32° 08’ 08”

Additional Information

Sculptor
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.80

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 C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 122.0°
Max altitude: 6.5°
Azimuth: 238.0°
  • C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, C/2022 A2 (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 C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,255,639,535.0 kilometers, equivalent to 8.3934318659 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 9m 48.363s to travel from Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

1,255,639,535.0
8.3934318659
1h 9m 48.363s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet C/2022 A2 (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 C/2022 A2 (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 C/2022 A2 (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 C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) to Earth happens on Tue Jan 17 2023 at a distance of 1.612817 Astronomical Units, or 241,274,033 kilometers:

Tue Jan 17 2023
241,274,033
1.612817

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 C/2022 A2 (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 C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) at epoch 24 April 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460059.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.00038112
Orbit inclination i 108.14671367°
Perihelion distance q 1.73533438 AU
259,602,328 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2023-Feb-18 06:27:19
2,459,993.7690 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 88.36787795385°
Longitude of the ascending node node 171.57952621304°
Mean anomaly M 0.0002108581318884°
Mean motion n 0.00000321°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS)
View Comet C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS) in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet C/2022 A2 (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 07 23h 25m 08s -32° 15’ 11” 22.73 Sculptor
2025 Feb 08 23h 25m 36s -32° 13’ 06” 22.74 Sculptor
2025 Feb 09 23h 26m 05s -32° 11’ 03” 22.75 Sculptor
2025 Feb 10 23h 26m 33s -32° 09’ 01” 22.76 Sculptor
2025 Feb 11 23h 27m 02s -32° 07’ 01” 22.76 Sculptor
2025 Feb 12 23h 27m 30s -32° 05’ 04” 22.77 Sculptor
2025 Feb 13 23h 27m 59s -32° 03’ 08” 22.78 Sculptor
2025 Feb 14 23h 28m 28s -32° 01’ 14” 22.79 Sculptor
2025 Feb 15 23h 28m 58s -31° 59’ 23” 22.80 Sculptor
2025 Feb 16 23h 29m 27s -31° 57’ 32” 22.80 Sculptor
2025 Feb 17 23h 29m 56s -31° 55’ 44” 22.81 Sculptor
2025 Feb 18 23h 30m 25s -31° 53’ 58” 22.82 Sculptor
2025 Feb 19 23h 30m 55s -31° 52’ 15” 22.83 Sculptor
2025 Feb 20 23h 31m 24s -31° 50’ 34” 22.83 Sculptor

Additional Resources