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Comet 263P/Gibbs

Below the horizon.  Rise: 6:59 | Tran: 11:04 | Set: 15:08
Alt: -44.66°   Az: 296.07°   Direction: West-North-West

Comet 263P/Gibbs is in the constellation of Capricornus, at a distance of 835,896,763.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 20h 59m 08s and the Declination is -20° 48’ 38” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 263P/Gibbs is 25.35 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 263P/Gibbs in Capricornus on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 263P/Gibbs in Capricornus on February, 18 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 263P/Gibbs is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

263P/Gibbs
RA: 20h 57m 42s
Dec: -20° 54’ 32”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 263P/Gibbs. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 263P/Gibbs?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 263P/Gibbs in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

20h 59m 08s
-20° 48’ 38”
09h 07m 31s
06h 06m 40s

J2000

20h 57m 42s
-20° 54’ 32”

Additional Information

Capricornus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
25.35

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

Azimuth: 110.8°
Max altitude: 17.7°
Azimuth: 249.2°
  • 263P/Gibbs is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 263P/Gibbs 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 263P/Gibbs from Earth is currently 835,896,763.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.5876247375 Astronomical Units. Light takes 46m 28.251s to travel from Comet 263P/Gibbs and arrive to us.

835,896,763.0
5.5876247375
46m 28.251s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 263P/Gibbs 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 263P/Gibbs 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 263P/Gibbs 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 263P/Gibbs to Earth happens on Sun Feb 2 2087 at a distance of 0.322633 Astronomical Units, or 48,265,227 kilometers:

Sun Feb 2 2087
48,265,227
0.322633

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 263P/Gibbs at epoch 21 October 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 2017-Sep-29 21:29:30
2,458,026.3955 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-Feb-06 08:34
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet 263P/Gibbs
View Comet 263P/Gibbs in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 Feb 11 20h 51m 49s -21° 11’ 47” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 12 20h 52m 46s -21° 08’ 50” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 13 20h 53m 42s -21° 05’ 52” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 14 20h 54m 38s -21° 02’ 55” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 15 20h 55m 34s -20° 59’ 58” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 16 20h 56m 30s -20° 57’ 01” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 17 20h 57m 26s -20° 54’ 04” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 18 20h 58m 22s -20° 51’ 07” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 19 20h 59m 17s -20° 48’ 10” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 20 21h 00m 12s -20° 45’ 15” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 21 21h 01m 07s -20° 42’ 19” 25.35 Capricornus
2025 Feb 22 21h 02m 02s -20° 39’ 24” 25.34 Capricornus
2025 Feb 23 21h 02m 56s -20° 36’ 29” 25.34 Capricornus
2025 Feb 24 21h 03m 50s -20° 33’ 34” 25.34 Capricornus

Additional Resources