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Comet

Gibbs

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428P/Gibbs

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.498 AU
True anomaly
238.34°
Distance from Earth
4.457 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 — 3.498 AU from the Sun Gibbs
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gibbs is 4.457 AU from Earth today (37.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 46m 45s
Declination
-18° 07′ 27″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
4.46 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.84° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
3.483 AU
Eccentricity
0.519
Inclination
8.51°
Orbital period
6.5 years
Perihelion
1.676 AU
Aphelion
5.291 AU
Longitude of ascending node
299.32°
Argument of periapsis
36.94°
Epoch · J2000
2457963.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 262.5 LD
0.6745 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.877

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
130
Data arc
7.48 years
First observed
21 June 2014
Last observed
14 December 2021
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
3 May 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 22.8
11.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 428P · 428P/2014 W12 · 428P/2021 Q1

Named

Close approaches 12 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2051-08-14 13:56:00 Juptr 1.5131 AU 588.9 LD 7.5 km/s
2062-10-23 01:24:00 Juptr 0.4771 AU 185.7 LD 4.4 km/s
2062-10-23 01:24:00 Jupiter 0.4771 AU 185.7 LD 4.4 km/s
2074-09-22 20:29:00 Juptr 1.935 AU 753.0 LD 9.3 km/s
2134-08-01 18:44:00 Juptr 0.5741 AU 223.4 LD 4.4 km/s
2145-09-22 12:02:00 Juptr 0.8368 AU 325.6 LD 5.6 km/s

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

Sources