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Comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS)

Above the horizon.  Rise: 22:22 | Tran: 3:01 | Set: 7:35
Alt: 6.63°   Az: 126.13°   Direction: South-East

Comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) is in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of 1,082,163,619.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 21h 37m 11s and the Declination is -15° 55’ 21” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS), computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 19.98.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Capricornus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) in the constellation of Capricornus 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 C/2025 M2 (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.

C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS)
RA: 21h 35m 46s
Dec: -16° 02’ 15”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS). Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

21h 37m 11s
-15° 55’ 21”
20h 13m 49s
17h 51m 00s

J2000

21h 35m 46s
-16° 02’ 15”

Additional Information

Capricornus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.98

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 C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 105.9°
Max altitude: 22.6°
Azimuth: 254.1°

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/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) from Earth is currently 1,082,163,619.0 kilometers, equivalent to 7.2338169918 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1h 9.709s to travel from comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) and arrive to us.

1,082,163,619.0
7.2338169918
1h 9.709s

The following graph shows the distance of comet C/2025 M2 (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 C/2025 M2 (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 C/2025 M2 (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 C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) to Earth will happen on Thursday 3 June 2027 at a distance of 2.017448 Astronomical Units, or 301,805,946 kilometers:

Thursday 3 June 2027
301,805,946
2.017448

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 C/2025 M2 (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 C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet C/2025 M2 (PANSTARRS) at epoch June, 20 2025 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460847.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 1.16583307
Orbit inclination i 173.46047594°
Perihelion distance q 2.80427195 AU
419,513,114 km
Aphelion distance Q n.a.
Semi-major axis a n.a.
Orbital period period n.a.
Date of perihelion transit Tp September 10, 2027
2,461,658.8051 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 89.832224073467°
Longitude of the ascending node node 305.06976909593°
Mean anomaly M -11.499124700143°
Mean motion n 0.01417361°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet C/2025 M2 (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 C/2025 M2 (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 09 2025 21h 41m 52s -15° 33’ 09” 20.06 Capricornus
Jul 10 2025 21h 41m 19s -15° 35’ 51” 20.05 Capricornus
Jul 11 2025 21h 40m 44s -15° 38’ 35” 20.04 Capricornus
Jul 12 2025 21h 40m 09s -15° 41’ 21” 20.03 Capricornus
Jul 13 2025 21h 39m 34s -15° 44’ 09” 20.02 Capricornus
Jul 14 2025 21h 38m 58s -15° 46’ 57” 20.01 Capricornus
Jul 15 2025 21h 38m 22s -15° 49’ 48” 20.00 Capricornus
Jul 16 2025 21h 37m 45s -15° 52’ 40” 19.99 Capricornus
Jul 17 2025 21h 37m 08s -15° 55’ 34” 19.98 Capricornus
Jul 18 2025 21h 36m 30s -15° 58’ 29” 19.97 Capricornus
Jul 19 2025 21h 35m 52s -16° 01’ 25” 19.96 Capricornus
Jul 20 2025 21h 35m 13s -16° 04’ 21” 19.96 Capricornus
Jul 21 2025 21h 34m 35s -16° 07’ 20” 19.95 Capricornus
Jul 22 2025 21h 33m 55s -16° 10’ 20” 19.94 Capricornus

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