Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 is currently in the constellation of Aquarius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 is 22h 22m 49s and the Declination is -09° 42’ 27” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 is 22.20 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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Additional information about Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 from Earth is currently 621,478,688 kilometers, equivalent to 4.154328 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34 minutes and 33.0298 seconds to travel from Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 to Earth happens on Sat Dec 23 2028 at a distance of 0.877729 Astronomical Units, or 131,306,351 kilometers:

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

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 is 22.20.

The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 rise and set times

Today's Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.

Visualization of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 4 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 Apr 30	22h 17m 09s	-10° 07’ 05”	22.31	Aquarius
2021 May 01	22h 17m 53s	-10° 03’ 48”	22.29	Aquarius
2021 May 02	22h 18m 38s	-10° 00’ 35”	22.28	Aquarius
2021 May 03	22h 19m 22s	-09° 57’ 24”	22.27	Aquarius
2021 May 04	22h 20m 04s	-09° 54’ 16”	22.25	Aquarius
2021 May 05	22h 20m 48s	-09° 51’ 11”	22.24	Aquarius
2021 May 06	22h 21m 29s	-09° 48’ 09”	22.22	Aquarius
2021 May 07	22h 22m 12s	-09° 45’ 08”	22.21	Aquarius
2021 May 08	22h 22m 53s	-09° 42’ 12”	22.20	Aquarius
2021 May 09	22h 23m 34s	-09° 39’ 19”	22.18	Aquarius
2021 May 10	22h 24m 14s	-09° 36’ 29”	22.17	Aquarius
2021 May 11	22h 24m 53s	-09° 33’ 42”	22.15	Aquarius
2021 May 12	22h 25m 32s	-09° 30’ 59”	22.14	Aquarius
2021 May 13	22h 26m 12s	-09° 28’ 18”	22.12	Aquarius