Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Gibbs

Add to an observing list or journal →

248P/Gibbs

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.875 AU
True anomaly
97.61°
Distance from Earth
4.535 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 Gibbs — 3.875 AU from the Sun Gibbs
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gibbs is 4.535 AU from Earth today (37.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 02m 21s
Declination
+01° 30′ 33″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
4.53 AU
Elongation from the Sun
44.23° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
5.988 AU
Eccentricity
0.6383
Inclination
6.35°
Orbital period
14.65 years
Perihelion
2.165 AU
Aphelion
9.81 AU
Longitude of ascending node
207.78°
Argument of periapsis
210.16°
Epoch · J2000
2457566.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 459.2 LD
1.1799 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.51

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
345
Data arc
29.51 years
First observed
14 September 1996
Last observed
19 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.79 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 April 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16

Discovery & classification

Also known as 248P · 248P/1996 TT65 · 248P/2010 MS75 · 248P/2010 RN141 · 248P/2010 RR59 · 248P/2010 SQ31 · 248P/2010 TL69 · 248P/2010 W1

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2099-08-12 13:47:00 Jupiter 0.4014 AU 156.2 LD 8.5 km/s
2099-08-12 13:47:00 Juptr 0.4014 AU 156.2 LD 8.5 km/s
2131-07-16 16:50:00 Satrn 1.2833 AU 499.4 LD 4.8 km/s
2139-07-31 07:14:00 Juptr 0.8913 AU 346.9 LD 7.2 km/s
2158-08-13 09:16:00 Juptr 1.4474 AU 563.3 LD 5.5 km/s
2190-03-16 23:35:00 Satrn 1.9012 AU 739.9 LD 5.4 km/s
2198-09-07 21:51:00 Juptr 0.768 AU 298.9 LD 8.5 km/s

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

Sources