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Comets » 

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy

Below the horizon.  Rise: 19:09 | Tran: 0:02 | Set: 4:59
Alt: -15.95°   Az: 90.36°   Direction: East

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy is in the constellation of Serpens, at a distance of 569,439,584.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 31m 22s and the Declination is -12° 38’ 05” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 22.78).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy in the constellation of Serpens on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy in the constellation of Serpens on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

118P/Shoemaker-Levy
RA: 17h 29m 56s
Dec: -12° 37’ 00”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 31m 22s
-12° 38’ 05”
17h 20m 42s
10h 52m 04s

J2000

17h 29m 56s
-12° 37’ 00”

Additional Information

Serpens
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.78

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 102.6°
Max altitude: 25.9°
Azimuth: 257.4°

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy from Earth is currently 569,439,584.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.8064685101 Astronomical Units. Light takes 31m 39.446s to travel from comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy and arrive to us.

569,439,584.0
3.8064685101
31m 39.446s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 118P/Shoemaker-Levy from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy to Earth will happen on Saturday 23 December 2028 at a distance of 0.878735 Astronomical Units, or 131,456,897 kilometers:

Saturday 23 December 2028
131,456,897
0.878735

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy at epoch June, 21 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459387.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.45508632
Orbit inclination i 10.09386690°
Perihelion distance q 1.83136335 AU
273,968,059 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.89030073 AU
731,578,578 km
Semi-major axis a 3.36083204 AU
502,773,318 km
Orbital period period 6.1614 years
2,250.4462 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp November 22, 2022
2,459,906.4307 JD
Next perihelion transit January 20, 2029
2,462,156.8769 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 314.43614595575°
Longitude of the ascending node node 142.11497073752°
Mean anomaly M 276.98755683882°
Mean motion n 0.15996827°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jun 21 2025 17h 36m 32s -12° 33’ 53” 22.76 Serpens
Jun 22 2025 17h 35m 51s -12° 34’ 18” 22.76 Serpens
Jun 23 2025 17h 35m 10s -12° 34’ 44” 22.76 Serpens
Jun 24 2025 17h 34m 29s -12° 35’ 14” 22.77 Serpens
Jun 25 2025 17h 33m 49s -12° 35’ 46” 22.77 Serpens
Jun 26 2025 17h 33m 09s -12° 36’ 21” 22.77 Serpens
Jun 27 2025 17h 32m 29s -12° 36’ 57” 22.78 Serpens
Jun 28 2025 17h 31m 49s -12° 37’ 36” 22.78 Serpens
Jun 29 2025 17h 31m 10s -12° 38’ 19” 22.78 Serpens
Jun 30 2025 17h 30m 31s -12° 39’ 03” 22.79 Serpens
Jul 01 2025 17h 29m 53s -12° 39’ 50” 22.79 Serpens
Jul 02 2025 17h 29m 15s -12° 40’ 39” 22.79 Serpens
Jul 03 2025 17h 28m 37s -12° 41’ 32” 22.80 Serpens
Jul 04 2025 17h 28m 00s -12° 42’ 26” 22.80 Serpens

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