C/2011 L4

Also known as PANSTARRS

non-periodic comet

Key facts

Discovered by: Pan-STARRS
Discovery date: 6 June 2011
Epoch: 20 March 2012 ( JD 2456006.5)
Observation arc: 3.27 years
Orbit type: Oort cloud
Aphelion: 68000 AU (inbound) , 4500 AU (outbound)
Perihelion: 0.30161 AU (q)
Orbital period: Millions of years (inbound), ~107,000 yr , (outbound solution for epoch 2050)
Max orbital speed: 76.7 km/s (172,000 mph)
Inclination: 84.199 °
Last perihelion: 10 March 2013
Jupiter moid: 0.17 AU

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Article

C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS), also known as Comet PANSTARRS, is a non-periodic comet discovered in June 2011 that became visible to the naked eye when it was near perihelion in March 2013. It was discovered using the Pan-STARRS telescope located near the summit of Haleakalā, on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

Observational history