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Comet

Wiseman-Skiff

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114P/Wiseman-Skiff

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.597 AU
True anomaly
14.29°
Distance from Earth
1.721 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Wiseman-Skiff — 1.597 AU from the Sun Wiseman-Skiff
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Wiseman-Skiff is 1.721 AU from Earth today (14.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 59m 10s
Declination
+14° 50′ 42″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
1.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
66.02° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
3.546 AU
Eccentricity
0.5546
Inclination
18.27°
Orbital period
6.68 years
Perihelion
1.579 AU
Aphelion
5.512 AU
Longitude of ascending node
271.06°
Argument of periapsis
172.83°
Epoch · J2000
2458429.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 232.1 LD
0.5965 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.772

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,973
Data arc
20.22 years
First observed
21 July 2006
Last observed
8 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
9 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.78 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12.8
13.7

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Wiseman, Jennifer
Discovery date
28 December 1986
Discovery site
Lowell Observatory's Anderson Mesa Station

Also known as 114P · 114P/1986 Y1 · 114P/1993 X2 · 1986 XV · 1987b · 1993 IX · 1993u

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2043-06-27 15:18:00 Jupiter 0.2082 AU 81.0 LD 6.3 km/s
2043-06-27 15:18:00 Juptr 0.2082 AU 81.0 LD 6.3 km/s
2079-02-24 19:10:00 Jupiter 0.1767 AU 68.7 LD 6.8 km/s
2079-02-24 19:11:00 Juptr 0.1767 AU 68.8 LD 6.8 km/s
2090-02-24 03:26:00 Juptr 0.5385 AU 209.6 LD 6.8 km/s
2138-06-30 03:21:00 Jupiter 0.425 AU 165.4 LD 6.6 km/s
2138-06-30 03:26:00 Juptr 0.425 AU 165.4 LD 6.6 km/s
2149-07-19 05:56:00 Jupiter 0.1574 AU 61.3 LD 6.9 km/s
2149-07-19 06:11:00 Juptr 0.1574 AU 61.3 LD 6.9 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources