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Comet

Shoemaker

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199P/Shoemaker 4

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.655 AU
True anomaly
131.53°
Distance from Earth
5.839 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 — 6.655 AU from the Sun Shoemaker
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Shoemaker is 5.839 AU from Earth today (48.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
04h 18m 16s
Declination
+04° 34′ 18″
Constellation
Taurus
Distance from Earth
5.83 AU
Elongation from the Sun
143.31° — 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
5.948 AU
Eccentricity
0.5075
Inclination
24.76°
Orbital period
14.51 years
Perihelion
2.929 AU
Aphelion
8.966 AU
Longitude of ascending node
92.62°
Argument of periapsis
191.83°
Epoch · J2000
2455678.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 745.8 LD
1.9164 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.548

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
863
Data arc
29.5 years
First observed
14 May 1994
Last observed
14 November 2023
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
18 August 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 16
7.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 199P · 1994 XXVIII · 1994k · 199P/1994 J3 · 199P/2008 G2

Named

Sources