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Comet

Gibbs

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335P/Gibbs

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.336 AU
True anomaly
194.46°
Distance from Earth
4.942 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 — 5.336 AU from the Sun Gibbs
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gibbs is 4.942 AU from Earth today (41.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 20m 12s
Declination
-16° 01′ 06″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
4.95 AU
Elongation from the Sun
107.8° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
3.588 AU
Eccentricity
0.5435
Inclination
7.28°
Orbital period
6.8 years
Perihelion
1.638 AU
Aphelion
5.538 AU
Longitude of ascending node
330.89°
Argument of periapsis
162.3°
Epoch · J2000
2455332.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 254.1 LD
0.6529 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.833

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
430
Data arc
14.48 years
First observed
1 December 2008
Last observed
27 May 2023
Residual RMS
0.52 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
1 June 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
17
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.8
17

Discovery & classification

Also known as 335P · 335P/2008 Y2 · 335P/2016 A9

Named

Close approaches 15 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-08-01 02:04:00 Juptr 0.2455 AU 95.5 LD 5.9 km/s
2033-08-01 02:04:00 Jupiter 0.2455 AU 95.5 LD 5.9 km/s
2068-01-03 10:56:00 Juptr 0.5529 AU 215.2 LD 5.2 km/s
2103-02-26 07:17:00 Juptr 0.3768 AU 146.6 LD 5.8 km/s
2103-02-26 07:17:00 Jupiter 0.3768 AU 146.6 LD 5.8 km/s
2138-07-22 09:50:00 Juptr 0.5544 AU 215.8 LD 7 km/s
2163-06-17 08:34:00 Juptr 0.6001 AU 233.5 LD 5.2 km/s
2187-06-09 08:51:00 Juptr 1.4454 AU 562.5 LD 9.4 km/s

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

Sources