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Comet

Skiff-Kosai

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D/1977 C1 (Skiff-Kosai)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.546 AU
True anomaly
215.62°
Distance from Earth
4.248 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-Kosai — 4.546 AU from the Sun Skiff-Kosai
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Skiff-Kosai is 4.248 AU from Earth today (35.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 55m 21s
Declination
-20° 30′ 48″
Constellation
Capricornus
Distance from Earth
4.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
100.66° — 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
3.847 AU
Eccentricity
0.2592
Inclination
3.2°
Orbital period
7.54 years
Perihelion
2.85 AU
Aphelion
4.844 AU
Longitude of ascending node
80.77°
Argument of periapsis
26.55°
Epoch · J2000
2443197.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 726.4 LD
1.8665 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.011

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
8
Data arc
27 days
First observed
13 February 1977
Last observed
12 March 1977
Residual RMS
0.12 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 15
8.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1977 C1 · D/1977 C1 · 1976 XVI · D/1977 DV3

Named

Sources