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Comet

Shoemaker-Levy

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118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.647 AU
True anomaly
200.39°
Distance from Earth
4.601 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 Shoemaker-Levy — 4.647 AU from the Sun Shoemaker-Levy
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Shoemaker-Levy is 4.601 AU from Earth today (38.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 02m 46s
Declination
-18° 19′ 38″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
4.61 AU
Elongation from the Sun
85.93° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
3.361 AU
Eccentricity
0.4551
Inclination
10.09°
Orbital period
6.16 years
Perihelion
1.831 AU
Aphelion
4.89 AU
Longitude of ascending node
142.11°
Argument of periapsis
314.44°
Epoch · J2000
2459388.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 336.7 LD
0.8652 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.957

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
1,771
Data arc
8.79 years
First observed
15 August 2015
Last observed
31 May 2024
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
1 August 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.40 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 11
12.4

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Shoemaker, Carolyn & Eugene, & Levy, D. H.
Discovery date
9 February 1991
Discovery site
Palomar Mountain Observatory, California

Also known as 118P · 118P/1991 C2 · 118P/1995 M1 · 1990 XII · 1991f

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-01-12 07:40:00 Juptr 0.8231 AU 320.3 LD 4 km/s
2091-06-27 16:21:00 Juptr 1.9205 AU 747.4 LD 8.2 km/s
2103-07-28 22:09:00 Juptr 0.5527 AU 215.1 LD 3.6 km/s
2151-01-24 00:42:00 Juptr 0.9729 AU 378.6 LD 5.4 km/s
2162-09-08 11:30:00 Juptr 1.4394 AU 560.2 LD 6 km/s

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

Sources