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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:58 
Transit: 13:05 
Sunset: 21:12
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Comets » 

Comet 263P/Gibbs

Above the horizon.  Rise: 23:19 | Tran: 3:28 | Set: 7:32
Alt: 13.50°   Az: 207.43°   Direction: South-South-West

Comet 263P/Gibbs is in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of 589,726,232.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 21h 49m 05s and the Declination is -20° 46’ 55” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 263P/Gibbs, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 24.66.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 263P/Gibbs in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 263P/Gibbs in the constellation of Capricornus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 263P/Gibbs in the constellation of Capricornus 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 263P/Gibbs 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.

263P/Gibbs
RA: 21h 47m 40s
Dec: -20° 54’ 05”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 263P/Gibbs. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

21h 49m 05s
-20° 46’ 55”
01h 54m 29s
23h 43m 35s

J2000

21h 47m 40s
-20° 54’ 05”

Additional Information

Capricornus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.66

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 263P/Gibbs from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 110.8°
Max altitude: 17.7°
Azimuth: 249.2°

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 263P/Gibbs from Earth is currently 589,726,232.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.9420763761 Astronomical Units. Light takes 32m 47.115s to travel from comet 263P/Gibbs and arrive to us.

589,726,232.0
3.9420763761
32m 47.115s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 263P/Gibbs 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 263P/Gibbs 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 263P/Gibbs 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 263P/Gibbs to Earth will happen on Sunday 2 February 2087 at a distance of 0.322633 Astronomical Units, or 48,265,227 kilometers:

Sunday 2 February 2087
48,265,227
0.322633

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 263P/Gibbs, 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 263P/Gibbs as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 263P/Gibbs at epoch October, 21 2018 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458413.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.58779281
Orbit inclination i 11.53837729°
Perihelion distance q 1.26148717 AU
188,715,794 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.85915890 AU
726,919,827 km
Semi-major axis a 3.06032303 AU
457,817,811 km
Orbital period period 5.3538 years
1,955.4618 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp September 29, 2017
2,458,026.3955 JD
Next perihelion transit February 6, 2023
2,459,981.8573 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 34.57468046879°
Longitude of the ascending node node 105.80770622729°
Mean anomaly M 71.265838312107°
Mean motion n 0.18409974°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 263P/Gibbs 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 263P/Gibbs 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 21h 52m 28s -20° 16’ 39” 24.69 Capricornus
Jul 06 2025 21h 52m 02s -20° 20’ 43” 24.68 Capricornus
Jul 07 2025 21h 51m 36s -20° 24’ 52” 24.68 Capricornus
Jul 08 2025 21h 51m 08s -20° 29’ 03” 24.67 Capricornus
Jul 09 2025 21h 50m 40s -20° 33’ 15” 24.67 Capricornus
Jul 10 2025 21h 50m 11s -20° 37’ 31” 24.66 Capricornus
Jul 11 2025 21h 49m 41s -20° 41’ 48” 24.66 Capricornus
Jul 12 2025 21h 49m 11s -20° 46’ 08” 24.66 Capricornus
Jul 13 2025 21h 48m 40s -20° 50’ 30” 24.65 Capricornus
Jul 14 2025 21h 48m 08s -20° 54’ 52” 24.65 Capricornus
Jul 15 2025 21h 47m 35s -20° 59’ 17” 24.64 Capricornus
Jul 16 2025 21h 47m 02s -21° 03’ 44” 24.64 Capricornus
Jul 17 2025 21h 46m 28s -21° 08’ 11” 24.64 Capricornus
Jul 18 2025 21h 45m 54s -21° 12’ 40” 24.63 Capricornus

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