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Comet

Shoemaker-Levy

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138P/Shoemaker-Levy 7

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.511 AU
True anomaly
86.03°
Distance from Earth
2.882 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Shoemaker-Levy — 2.511 AU from the Sun Shoemaker-Levy
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Shoemaker-Levy is 2.882 AU from Earth today (24.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 11m 32s
Declination
+10° 53′ 28″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
2.88 AU
Elongation from the Sun
58.78° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.622 AU
Eccentricity
0.5305
Inclination
10.08°
Orbital period
6.89 years
Perihelion
1.701 AU
Aphelion
5.544 AU
Longitude of ascending node
309.41°
Argument of periapsis
95.63°
Epoch · J2000
2455923.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 289.8 LD
0.7446 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.829

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
171
Data arc
33.86 years
First observed
13 November 1991
Last observed
22 September 2025
Residual RMS
0.54 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
8 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9.5
16.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 138P · 138P/1991 V2 · 138P/1991d1 · 138P/1998 O1 · 1991 XIX

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-12-23 12:54:00 Juptr 0.9155 AU 356.3 LD 5.7 km/s
2078-05-11 05:16:00 Juptr 1.0887 AU 423.7 LD 6.8 km/s
2088-12-12 13:15:00 Juptr 1.597 AU 621.5 LD 7.4 km/s
2136-12-08 21:36:00 Juptr 1.1109 AU 432.3 LD 4.3 km/s
2184-07-08 17:18:00 Juptr 1.0885 AU 423.6 LD 4.3 km/s

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

Sources