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Comet

Gibbs

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229P/Gibbs

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.09 AU
True anomaly
117.57°
Distance from Earth
4.555 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 Gibbs — 4.09 AU from the Sun Gibbs
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gibbs is 4.555 AU from Earth today (37.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 10m 48s
Declination
+03° 41′ 11″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
4.55 AU
Elongation from the Sun
56.84° — 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
3.934 AU
Eccentricity
0.3761
Inclination
26.07°
Orbital period
7.8 years
Perihelion
2.455 AU
Aphelion
5.414 AU
Longitude of ascending node
157.91°
Argument of periapsis
224.22°
Epoch · J2000
2457310.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 589.2 LD
1.5139 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.77

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
293
Data arc
23.28 years
First observed
23 August 2001
Last observed
3 December 2024
Residual RMS
0.83 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 July 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 9.3
13.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 229P · 229P/2001 Q10 · 229P/2009 S1

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-11-04 05:03:00 Juptr 1.0397 AU 404.6 LD 5.5 km/s
2087-09-20 10:02:00 Juptr 1.5757 AU 613.2 LD 8.9 km/s
2110-12-07 15:44:00 Juptr 0.6709 AU 261.1 LD 5.9 km/s
2170-10-14 15:43:00 Juptr 1.893 AU 736.7 LD 9.8 km/s
2193-11-13 13:35:00 Juptr 0.8308 AU 323.3 LD 5.6 km/s

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

Sources