Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Shoemaker-Levy

Add to an observing list or journal →

137P/Shoemaker-Levy 2

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.878 AU
True anomaly
228.79°
Distance from Earth
5.734 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 Shoemaker-Levy — 4.878 AU from the Sun Shoemaker-Levy
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Shoemaker-Levy is 5.734 AU from Earth today (47.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 41m 28s
Declination
-18° 54′ 40″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
5.74 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.44° — 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
4.518 AU
Eccentricity
0.572
Inclination
4.85°
Orbital period
9.6 years
Perihelion
1.933 AU
Aphelion
7.102 AU
Longitude of ascending node
233.07°
Argument of periapsis
140.98°
Epoch · J2000
2457388.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 364.8 LD
0.9374 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.675

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,233
Data arc
35.75 years
First observed
16 September 1990
Last observed
16 June 2026
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
21 August 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.90 km
Rotation period
7.7 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.4

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Shoemaker, Carolyn S.
Discovery date
25 October 1990
Discovery site
Palomar Mountain Observatory, California

Also known as 137P · 137P/1990 UL3 · 137P/1998 K6 · 1990 XVI · 1990p

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2052-11-23 00:23:00 Juptr 1.6717 AU 650.6 LD 5.2 km/s
2098-12-06 21:15:00 Juptr 1.148 AU 446.8 LD 5 km/s
2113-02-02 04:08:00 Juptr 1.1461 AU 446.0 LD 9.6 km/s
2147-11-23 04:02:00 Juptr 1.4592 AU 567.9 LD 5.2 km/s
2181-10-11 18:13:00 Juptr 0.8848 AU 344.3 LD 8.3 km/s
2196-02-21 22:18:00 Juptr 1.0041 AU 390.8 LD 5.1 km/s

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

Sources