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Comet

Schuster

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106P/Schuster

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.36 AU
True anomaly
202.9°
Distance from Earth
6.163 AU
As of
22 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth Schuster — 5.36 AU from the Sun Schuster
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Schuster is 6.163 AU from Earth today (51.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 56m 16s
Declination
-26° 05′ 59″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
6.17 AU
Elongation from the Sun
33.03° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
3.754 AU
Eccentricity
0.5895
Inclination
20.2°
Orbital period
7.27 years
Perihelion
1.541 AU
Aphelion
5.966 AU
Longitude of ascending node
50.33°
Argument of periapsis
355.98°
Epoch · J2000
2457493.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 214.4 LD
0.551 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.674

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
745
Data arc
44.55 years
First observed
5 September 1977
Last observed
25 March 2022
Residual RMS
0.8 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
26 August 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.94 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 22.8
11.1

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Schuster, Hans-Emil
Discovery date
9 October 1977
Discovery site
European Southern Observatory

Also known as 106P · 106P/1977 T1 · 106P/1992 O1 · 1977o · 1978 I · 1992 XXIV · 1992n

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2053-02-28 03:57:00 Juptr 0.8481 AU 330.1 LD 7.4 km/s
2077-12-13 11:50:00 Juptr 0.5815 AU 226.3 LD 6.2 km/s
2112-06-02 10:11:00 Juptr 1.3325 AU 518.6 LD 9.2 km/s
2136-08-14 19:04:00 Juptr 0.6441 AU 250.7 LD 5.8 km/s
2161-01-14 19:03:00 Juptr 1.2532 AU 487.7 LD 8.7 km/s
2195-08-04 04:27:00 Juptr 0.5284 AU 205.6 LD 6.1 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources