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Comet

Ciffreo

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108P/Ciffreo

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.898 AU
True anomaly
209.16°
Distance from Earth
5.604 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 Ciffreo — 4.898 AU from the Sun Ciffreo
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Ciffreo is 5.604 AU from Earth today (46.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 30m 37s
Declination
-27° 13′ 43″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
5.61 AU
Elongation from the Sun
40.77° — 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
3.642 AU
Eccentricity
0.581
Inclination
13.98°
Orbital period
6.95 years
Perihelion
1.526 AU
Aphelion
5.759 AU
Longitude of ascending node
52.4°
Argument of periapsis
356.86°
Epoch · J2000
2458257.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 208.3 LD
0.5352 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.75

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,301
Data arc
7.77 years
First observed
17 June 2014
Last observed
26 March 2022
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
16 August 2022

Physical properties

Mean radius
1.60 km

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 19.5
10.9

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Ciffreo, Jacqueline
Discovery date
8 November 1985
Discovery site
Caussols

Also known as 108P · 108P/1985 V1 · 108P/1992 S1 · 1985 XVI · 1985p · 1992s · 1993 I

Named

Close approaches 16 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2053-03-10 03:51:00 Jupiter 0.3223 AU 125.4 LD 5.9 km/s
2053-03-10 03:51:00 Juptr 0.3223 AU 125.4 LD 5.9 km/s
2076-12-18 00:46:00 Juptr 0.2814 AU 109.5 LD 5.5 km/s
2076-12-18 00:46:00 Jupiter 0.2814 AU 109.5 LD 5.5 km/s
2100-07-20 11:24:00 Juptr 0.3121 AU 121.4 LD 5.6 km/s
2100-07-20 11:24:00 Jupiter 0.3121 AU 121.4 LD 5.6 km/s
2160-08-05 18:28:00 Juptr 1.1245 AU 437.6 LD 6 km/s
2183-11-07 01:07:00 Jupiter 0.4724 AU 183.8 LD 5.3 km/s
2183-11-07 01:07:00 Juptr 0.4724 AU 183.8 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources