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Comet

Skiff

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223P/Skiff

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.99 AU
True anomaly
290.63°
Distance from Earth
2.839 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 Skiff — 2.99 AU from the Sun Skiff
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Skiff is 2.839 AU from Earth today (23.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 15m 28s
Declination
-34° 34′ 59″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
2.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
88.45° — 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
4.148 AU
Eccentricity
0.4164
Inclination
27.05°
Orbital period
8.45 years
Perihelion
2.421 AU
Aphelion
5.875 AU
Longitude of ascending node
346.83°
Argument of periapsis
37.87°
Epoch · J2000
2455873.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 571.8 LD
1.4692 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.7

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
786
Data arc
25.1 years
First observed
27 July 2001
Last observed
2 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.6 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 223P · 223P/2002 S1 · 223P/2009 L18

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2063-08-20 10:11:00 Juptr 0.3386 AU 131.8 LD 7.2 km/s
2063-08-20 10:11:00 Jupiter 0.3386 AU 131.8 LD 7.2 km/s
2123-04-19 12:20:00 Juptr 1.7433 AU 678.4 LD 10.4 km/s
2158-05-29 21:07:00 Juptr 0.9536 AU 371.1 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources