Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Sheppard

Add to an observing list or journal →

P/2020 B4 (Sheppard)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.962 AU
True anomaly
100.65°
Distance from Earth
8.526 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Sheppard — 7.962 AU from the Sun Sheppard
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Sheppard is 8.526 AU from Earth today (1.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 32m 46s
Declination
-12° 32′ 15″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
8.53 AU
Elongation from the Sun
52.49° — 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
7.974 AU
Eccentricity
0.1925
Inclination
11.6°
Orbital period
22.52 years
Perihelion
6.439 AU
Aphelion
9.51 AU
Longitude of ascending node
186°
Argument of periapsis
342.46°
Epoch · J2000
2459004.5
Orbit class · CTc
Chiron-type comet
Earth MOID · 2,120.3 LD
5.4483 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.032

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
20
Data arc
4.23 years
First observed
15 January 2018
Last observed
9 April 2022
Residual RMS
0.22 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
18 May 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.8
7.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2020 B4

Named

Close approaches 2 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2173-12-08 09:18:00 Satrn 0.6351 AU 247.2 LD 2.3 km/s

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

Sources