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Sunrise: 4:58 
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Comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS)

Below the horizon.  Rise: 13:29 | Tran: 19:27 | Set: 1:28
Alt: -29.57°   Az: 315.19°   Direction: North-West

Comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Virgo, at a distance of 936,928,797.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 13h 50m 38s and the Declination is -00° 06’ 24” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 18.27.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Virgo on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 13h 49m 20s
Dec: +00° 01’ 09”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

13h 50m 38s
-00° 06’ 24”
09h 28m 46s
23h 19m 24s

J2000

13h 49m 20s
+00° 01’ 09”

Additional Information

Virgo
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
18.27

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 90.1°
Max altitude: 38.4°
Azimuth: 269.9°

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 P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 936,928,797.0 kilometers, equivalent to 6.2629821709 Astronomical Units. Light takes 52m 5.258s to travel from comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

936,928,797.0
6.2629821709
52m 5.258s

The following graph shows the distance of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) to Earth will happen on Thursday 16 February 2079 at a distance of 5.133730 Astronomical Units, or 767,995,124 kilometers:

Thursday 16 February 2079
767,995,124
5.133730

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS), i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) at epoch March, 07 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460011.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.12908968
Orbit inclination i 14.58815946°
Perihelion distance q 6.14042687 AU
918,594,787 km
Aphelion distance Q 7.96074235 AU
1,190,910,107 km
Semi-major axis a 7.05058461 AU
1,054,752,447 km
Orbital period period 18.7217 years
6,838.1106 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp May 2, 2023
2,460,066.7457 JD
Next perihelion transit January 20, 2042
2,466,904.8562 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 81.602218039006°
Longitude of the ascending node node 78.58288011109°
Mean anomaly M 357.09153025591°
Mean motion n 0.05264612°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet P/2023 B1 (PANSTARRS) relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet P/2023 B1 (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
Jul 05 2025 13h 49m 57s +00° 15’ 16” 18.23 Virgo
Jul 06 2025 13h 50m 01s +00° 12’ 23” 18.24 Virgo
Jul 07 2025 13h 50m 06s +00° 09’ 27” 18.24 Virgo
Jul 08 2025 13h 50m 11s +00° 06’ 28” 18.25 Virgo
Jul 09 2025 13h 50m 17s +00° 03’ 26” 18.25 Virgo
Jul 10 2025 13h 50m 23s +00° 00’ 22” 18.26 Virgo
Jul 11 2025 13h 50m 30s -00° 02’ 43” 18.27 Virgo
Jul 12 2025 13h 50m 37s -00° 05’ 52” 18.27 Virgo
Jul 13 2025 13h 50m 45s -00° 09’ 03” 18.28 Virgo
Jul 14 2025 13h 50m 54s -00° 12’ 17” 18.29 Virgo
Jul 15 2025 13h 51m 02s -00° 15’ 34” 18.29 Virgo
Jul 16 2025 13h 51m 12s -00° 18’ 53” 18.30 Virgo
Jul 17 2025 13h 51m 22s -00° 22’ 14” 18.30 Virgo
Jul 18 2025 13h 51m 32s -00° 25’ 37” 18.31 Virgo

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