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Comet

Skiff

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305P/Skiff

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.583 AU
True anomaly
144.94°
Distance from Earth
6.397 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 Skiff — 5.583 AU from the Sun Skiff
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Skiff is 6.397 AU from Earth today (53.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 38m 43s
Declination
-07° 55′ 47″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
6.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.01° — 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
4.646 AU
Eccentricity
0.6923
Inclination
11.64°
Orbital period
10.02 years
Perihelion
1.43 AU
Aphelion
7.863 AU
Longitude of ascending node
240.15°
Argument of periapsis
147.27°
Epoch · J2000
2458657.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 175.9 LD
0.4519 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.456

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,263
Data arc
20.36 years
First observed
7 October 2004
Last observed
14 February 2025
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
12 March 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.8
17

Discovery & classification

Also known as 305P · 305P/2004 V1 · 305P/2014 N1

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-09-04 22:00:00 Juptr 0.6589 AU 256.4 LD 7.7 km/s
2099-02-03 02:13:00 Juptr 1.516 AU 590.0 LD 6.8 km/s
2125-08-27 14:57:00 Juptr 0.7306 AU 284.3 LD 7.5 km/s
2137-01-01 18:26:00 Juptr 1.862 AU 724.7 LD 13.6 km/s
2194-01-12 16:01:00 Juptr 1.4441 AU 562.0 LD 10.7 km/s

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

Sources