Skip Navigation Links

C/2017 E3 (PANSTARRS)
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Nearest approach25 Apr 201716.15.907 AU5.047 AU 12h45m-41°47'146.0°5.5°39°
Perihelion6 Jun 201716.25.900 AU5.296 AU 12h37m-33°56'122.2°8.4°97°
Today12 Apr 202627.219.862 AU19.958 AU 19h24m+49°27'83.1°2.9°265°
C/2017 E3 (PANSTARRS)- 2026-04-12
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 .9 + 5 log[∆] + 15.2 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/2017 E3 (PANSTARRS) are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0042450
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 5.8995400
    i (Inclination)                 : 70.66620
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 220.74870
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 334.14780
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 211.63506
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -24.29661
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2457911.37040

    Epoch                           : 2026 Apr 11
    Reference                       : MPEC 2026-E44

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

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-04-11 00:00 UT   19 24 19.4   +49 23 00    19.959   19.855   82.6    2.9   266   27.2 
2026-04-12 00:00 UT   19 24 21.8   +49 25 60    19.958   19.860   82.9    2.9   265   27.2 
2026-04-12 10:24 UT   19 24 22.7   +49 27 18    19.958   19.862   83.1    2.9   265   27.2 
2026-04-13 00:00 UT   19 24 23.9   +49 28 60    19.957   19.865   83.2    2.9   264   27.2 
2026-04-14 00:00 UT   19 24 25.7   +49 31 59    19.956   19.869   83.5    2.9   263   27.2 
2026-04-15 00:00 UT   19 24 27.2   +49 34 58    19.956   19.874   83.9    2.9   262   27.2 
2026-04-16 00:00 UT   19 24 28.4   +49 37 56    19.955   19.878   84.2    2.9   262   27.2 
2026-04-17 00:00 UT   19 24 29.3   +49 40 54    19.954   19.883   84.5    2.9   261   27.2 
2026-04-18 00:00 UT   19 24 29.8   +49 43 52    19.953   19.888   84.8    2.9   260   27.2 
2026-04-19 00:00 UT   19 24 30.1   +49 46 49    19.952   19.892   85.1    2.9   259   27.2 
2026-04-20 00:00 UT   19 24 30.1   +49 49 46    19.951   19.897   85.4    2.9   258   27.2 
2026-04-21 00:00 UT   19 24 29.7   +49 52 42    19.950   19.901   85.7    2.9   257   27.2 
2026-04-22 00:00 UT   19 24 29.1   +49 55 37    19.949   19.906   86.1    2.9   256   27.2 




    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