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Comets » 

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy

Below the horizon.  Rise: 3:51 | Tran: 8:31 | Set: 13:10
Alt: -38.66°   Az: 298.18°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy is in the constellation of Serpens, at a distance of 762,787,729.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 42m 12s and the Declination is -15° 00’ 58” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy is 23.22 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy in Serpens on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy in Serpens on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

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

118P/Shoemaker-Levy
RA: 17h 40m 46s
Dec: -15° 00’ 18”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 42m 12s
-15° 00’ 58”
08h 58m 12s
02h 40m 25s

J2000

17h 40m 46s
-15° 00’ 18”

Additional Information

Serpens
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.22

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

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: 105.0°
Max altitude: 23.5°
Azimuth: 255.0°
  • 118P/Shoemaker-Levy is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 118P/Shoemaker-Levy is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

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 762,787,729.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.0989210303 Astronomical Units. Light takes 42m 24.386s to travel from Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy and arrive to us.

762,787,729.0
5.0989210303
42m 24.386s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy 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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

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 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy to Earth happens on Sat Dec 23 2028 at a distance of 0.878735 Astronomical Units, or 131,456,897 kilometers:

Sat Dec 23 2028
131,456,897
0.878735

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

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy, 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.

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 21 June 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 2022-Nov-22 22:20:09
2,459,906.4307 JD
Next perihelion transit 2029-Jan-20 09:02
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy
View Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 Jan 31 17h 36m 09s -15° 04’ 59” 23.24 Serpens
2025 Feb 01 17h 36m 58s -15° 04’ 36” 23.23 Serpens
2025 Feb 02 17h 37m 46s -15° 04’ 10” 23.23 Serpens
2025 Feb 03 17h 38m 34s -15° 03’ 41” 23.23 Serpens
2025 Feb 04 17h 39m 21s -15° 03’ 11” 23.23 Serpens
2025 Feb 05 17h 40m 08s -15° 02’ 39” 23.22 Serpens
2025 Feb 06 17h 40m 54s -15° 02’ 04” 23.22 Serpens
2025 Feb 07 17h 41m 40s -15° 01’ 26” 23.22 Serpens
2025 Feb 08 17h 42m 25s -15° 00’ 48” 23.22 Serpens
2025 Feb 09 17h 43m 10s -15° 00’ 07” 23.21 Serpens
2025 Feb 10 17h 43m 55s -14° 59’ 23” 23.21 Serpens
2025 Feb 11 17h 44m 38s -14° 58’ 39” 23.21 Serpens
2025 Feb 12 17h 45m 22s -14° 57’ 51” 23.20 Serpens
2025 Feb 13 17h 46m 05s -14° 57’ 03” 23.20 Serpens

Additional Resources