Skip Navigation Links

C/2013 X1 (PANSTARRS)
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Perihelion19 Apr 20169.51.326 AU1.984 AU 23h29m-00°15'36.9°27.0°251°
Nearest approach21 Jun 20168.01.614 AU0.656 AU 19h47m-45°48'148.9°19.0°307°
Today4 Nov 202527.624.065 AU24.711 AU 11h21m-07°37'48.5°1.8°284°
C/2013 X1 (PANSTARRS)- 2025-11-04
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
-1 month
-1 week
-1 day
Now
+1 day
+1 week
+1 month

The interactive orbit chart above shows the comet's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)


Light curve

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations from COBS. This lightcurve is being recalculated every 6 hours based on the available COBS/MPC observations (currently 6.8 + 5 log[∆] + 10.0 log[r]). An additional green curve is displayed when an increase in apparent brightness is expected due to forward scattering of sunlight, which occurs when a dust-rich comet is located between the Earth and the Sun. (See Marcus 2007)



Charts

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the comet over the same period as the light curve. The comet's current position is marked yellow.





The following chart shows the short-term path of the comet in a field of view that is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.




Orbital elements

The orbital elements of C/2013 X1 (PANSTARRS) are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0005450
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 1.3256690
    i (Inclination)                 : 163.19370
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 131.57360
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 165.21110
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 145.75685
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 4.23254
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2457497.95670

    Epoch                           : 2021 Jun 11
    Reference                       : MPC111767

    Classification(s):              : Nearly isotropic; New (a > 10000 AU)

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   11 21 00.7   -07 36 51    24.720   24.059   47.4    1.7   283   27.6 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   11 21 05.6   -07 37 42    24.712   24.064   48.3    1.8   284   27.6 
2025-11-04 03:52 UT   11 21 06.4   -07 37 51    24.711   24.065   48.5    1.8   284   27.6 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   11 21 10.3   -07 38 33    24.704   24.069   49.2    1.8   284   27.6 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   11 21 14.9   -07 39 24    24.696   24.074   50.2    1.8   284   27.6 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   11 21 19.4   -07 40 14    24.687   24.079   51.1    1.8   285   27.6 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   11 21 23.8   -07 41 03    24.679   24.083   52.1    1.9   285   27.6 
2025-11-09 00:00 UT   11 21 28.0   -07 41 53    24.670   24.088   53.1    1.9   285   27.6 
2025-11-10 00:00 UT   11 21 32.2   -07 42 41    24.661   24.093   54.0    1.9   285   27.6 
2025-11-11 00:00 UT   11 21 36.1   -07 43 29    24.652   24.098   55.0    1.9   286   27.6 
2025-11-12 00:00 UT   11 21 40.0   -07 44 17    24.643   24.103   55.9    1.9   286   27.6 
2025-11-13 00:00 UT   11 21 43.7   -07 45 04    24.633   24.108   56.9    2.0   286   27.6 
2025-11-14 00:00 UT   11 21 47.3   -07 45 51    24.624   24.112   57.8    2.0   287   27.6 




    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between comet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between comet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-comet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km

Orbital elements usually provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database) or the MPC (Minor Planet Center)
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.

Privacy policy