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Comet

Gibbs

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406P/Gibbs

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.467 AU
True anomaly
355.49°
Distance from Earth
0.645 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 Gibbs — 1.467 AU from the Sun Gibbs
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gibbs is 0.645 AU from Earth today (5.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 45m 30s
Declination
-14° 09′ 22″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
0.65 AU
Elongation from the Sun
124.76° — 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
3.44 AU
Eccentricity
0.574
Inclination
1.43°
Orbital period
6.38 years
Perihelion
1.465 AU
Aphelion
5.415 AU
Longitude of ascending node
8.81°
Argument of periapsis
353.07°
Epoch · J2000
2454965.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 180.1 LD
0.4627 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.844

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
193
Data arc
13.11 years
First observed
10 September 2007
Last observed
20 October 2020
Residual RMS
0.74 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.8
16.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 406P · 406P/2007 R2 · 406P/2020 R8

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2063-08-25 18:38:00 Jupiter 0.292 AU 113.6 LD 5.3 km/s
2063-08-25 18:38:00 Juptr 0.292 AU 113.6 LD 5.3 km/s
2087-04-14 09:55:00 Juptr 0.5822 AU 226.6 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources