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Comet

Shoemaker

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155P/Shoemaker 3

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
11.122 AU
True anomaly
172.38°
Distance from Earth
11.422 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 — 11.122 AU from the Sun Shoemaker
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Shoemaker is 11.422 AU from Earth today (1.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 41m 17s
Declination
-23° 51′ 28″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
11.44 AU
Elongation from the Sun
69.14° — well clear of the Sun

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
6.594 AU
Eccentricity
0.7261
Inclination
6.4°
Orbital period
16.93 years
Perihelion
1.806 AU
Aphelion
11.383 AU
Longitude of ascending node
97.28°
Argument of periapsis
14.6°
Epoch · J2000
2455702.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 321.0 LD
0.8247 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.328

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,966
Data arc
34.36 years
First observed
10 January 1986
Last observed
21 May 2020
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
31 December 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 12
10

Discovery & classification

Also known as 155P · 155P/1986 A1 · 155P/2002 R2 · 1985 XVIII · 1986a

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2069-07-26 21:13:00 Juptr 1.02 AU 397.0 LD 13.3 km/s
2078-06-11 16:15:00 Satrn 1.2023 AU 467.9 LD 4.6 km/s
2137-10-26 21:17:00 Juptr 1.8512 AU 720.4 LD 15.6 km/s
2198-02-02 15:28:00 Satrn 0.8171 AU 318.0 LD 6 km/s

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

Sources