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public  Sandiat Centro, Philippines Sandiat Centro, Philippines  ⓘ
TimezoneAsia/Manila
Sunrise: 5:28 
Transit: 11:59 
Sunset: 18:30
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Comets » 

Comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy

Below the horizon.  Rise: 1:34 | Tran: 7:54 | Set: 14:18
Alt: -29.16°   Az: 302.39°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy is in the constellation of Aries, at a distance of 800,796,688.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 25m 23s and the Declination is +17° 42’ 26” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 22.33.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy in the constellation of Aries on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy in the constellation of Aries 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 135P/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.

135P/Shoemaker-Levy
RA: 03h 23m 56s
Dec: +17° 37’ 05”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

03h 25m 23s
+17° 42’ 26”
08h 37m 06s
12h 02m 30s

J2000

03h 23m 56s
+17° 37’ 05”

Additional Information

Aries
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.33

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 135P/Shoemaker-Levy from Sandiat Centro, Philippines (all times relative to the local timezone Asia/Manila):

Azimuth: 72.3°
Max altitude: 89.3°
Azimuth: 287.7°

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 135P/Shoemaker-Levy from Earth is currently 800,796,688.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.3529952282 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44m 31.170s to travel from comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy and arrive to us.

800,796,688.0
5.3529952282
44m 31.170s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 135P/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 135P/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 135P/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 135P/Shoemaker-Levy to Earth happened on Saturday 28 May 2022 at a distance of 1.686005 Astronomical Units, or 252,222,725 kilometers:

Saturday 28 May 2022
252,222,725
1.686005

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 135P/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 135P/Shoemaker-Levy as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy at epoch February, 20 1997 00:00 UTC (JD: 2450500.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.29022851
Orbit inclination i 6.05058101°
Perihelion distance q 2.71688981 AU
406,440,931 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.93878488 AU
738,831,704 km
Semi-major axis a 3.82783735 AU
572,636,317 km
Orbital period period 7.4893 years
2,735.4491 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp December 10, 1999
2,451,523.0018 JD
Next perihelion transit June 6, 2007
2,454,258.4509 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 22.698035116379°
Longitude of the ascending node node 213.3619815558°
Mean anomaly M 225.43319857078°
Mean motion n 0.13160545°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 135P/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 135P/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
Jul 05 2025 03h 20m 08s +17° 27’ 14” 22.36 Aries
Jul 06 2025 03h 20m 52s +17° 29’ 25” 22.36 Aries
Jul 07 2025 03h 21m 36s +17° 31’ 34” 22.35 Aries
Jul 08 2025 03h 22m 19s +17° 33’ 41” 22.35 Aries
Jul 09 2025 03h 23m 02s +17° 35’ 46” 22.35 Aries
Jul 10 2025 03h 23m 44s +17° 37’ 47” 22.34 Aries
Jul 11 2025 03h 24m 26s +17° 39’ 47” 22.34 Aries
Jul 12 2025 03h 25m 08s +17° 41’ 45” 22.33 Aries
Jul 13 2025 03h 25m 49s +17° 43’ 40” 22.33 Taurus
Jul 14 2025 03h 26m 30s +17° 45’ 33” 22.33 Taurus
Jul 15 2025 03h 27m 10s +17° 47’ 23” 22.32 Taurus
Jul 16 2025 03h 27m 51s +17° 49’ 11” 22.32 Taurus
Jul 17 2025 03h 28m 31s +17° 50’ 57” 22.31 Taurus
Jul 18 2025 03h 29m 10s +17° 52’ 40” 22.31 Taurus

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