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Comet Near-Earth

Levy

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255P/Levy

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.629 AU
True anomaly
216.11°
Distance from Earth
3.329 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 Levy — 3.629 AU from the Sun Levy
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Levy is 3.329 AU from Earth today (27.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 51m 25s
Declination
-09° 13′ 58″
Constellation
Aquila
Distance from Earth
3.33 AU
Elongation from the Sun
99.09° — 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
3.025 AU
Eccentricity
0.672
Inclination
18.33°
Orbital period
5.26 years
Perihelion
0.992 AU
Aphelion
5.057 AU
Longitude of ascending node
279.78°
Argument of periapsis
179.59°
Epoch · J2000
2454456.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 3.4 LD
0.0088 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.792

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
503
Data arc
15.01 years
First observed
2 October 2006
Last observed
7 October 2021
Residual RMS
0.91 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
18 October 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 38
11.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 255P · 255P/2006 T1 · 255P/2011 Y1

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 33 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Levy at 2052-10-18 22:37 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2052-10-18 22:37 UTC close approach of Levy. Catalogue miss distance 191.0 LD · 7.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2052-10-15 to 2052-10-21, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 191.0 LD · 7.34 × 10⁷ km 2052-10-18 22:37 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2052-10-18 22:37 UTC close approach of Levy. Catalogue miss distance 191.0 LD · 7.34 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2052-10-15 to 2052-10-21, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2047-11-02 05:06:00 Venus 0.1413 AU 55.0 LD 13.6 km/s
2052-10-18 22:37:00 Earth 0.4908 AU 191.0 LD 28 km/s
2055-12-31 09:44:00 Juptr 0.5526 AU 215.1 LD 7.2 km/s
2057-10-23 10:11:00 Earth 0.2687 AU 104.6 LD 23.4 km/s
2079-05-15 03:08:00 Juptr 0.3841 AU 149.5 LD 7.4 km/s
2079-05-15 03:08:00 Jupiter 0.3841 AU 149.5 LD 7.4 km/s
2115-01-19 08:11:00 Juptr 0.2402 AU 93.5 LD 6.9 km/s
2115-01-19 08:11:00 Jupiter 0.2402 AU 93.5 LD 6.9 km/s
2117-12-31 01:12:00 Earth 0.0908 AU 35.3 LD 11.2 km/s
2149-01-02 03:17:00 Earth 0.1081 AU 42.1 LD 11.6 km/s

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

Sources