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Comet

Sheppard-Jewitt

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452P/Sheppard-Jewitt

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.206 AU
True anomaly
114.25°
Distance from Earth
7.691 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Sheppard-Jewitt — 7.206 AU from the Sun Sheppard-Jewitt
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Sheppard-Jewitt is 7.691 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 54m 56s
Declination
-20° 34′ 17″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
7.69 AU
Elongation from the Sun
57.45° — 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
7.271 AU
Eccentricity
0.4279
Inclination
6.43°
Orbital period
19.61 years
Perihelion
4.159 AU
Aphelion
10.383 AU
Longitude of ascending node
123.8°
Argument of periapsis
37.3°
Epoch · J2000
2457673.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,234.6 LD
3.1724 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.839

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
219
Data arc
20.21 years
First observed
2 February 2003
Last observed
18 April 2023
Residual RMS
0.92 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 July 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
13.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 452P · 452P/2003 CC22 · 452P/2022 B5

Named

Close approaches 14 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2055-09-07 02:23:00 Satrn 0.5955 AU 231.8 LD 2.8 km/s
2060-11-30 20:29:00 Jupiter 0.1395 AU 54.3 LD 6.8 km/s
2060-11-30 20:29:00 Juptr 0.1395 AU 54.3 LD 6.8 km/s
2076-12-31 04:33:00 Juptr 1.7447 AU 679.0 LD 4.8 km/s
2080-02-21 05:02:00 Juptr 1.977 AU 769.4 LD 3.9 km/s
2091-06-29 21:20:00 Juptr 1.5089 AU 587.2 LD 9.4 km/s
2167-01-08 08:15:00 Juptr 1.7894 AU 696.4 LD 3.4 km/s
2169-04-14 15:30:00 Juptr 1.5446 AU 601.1 LD 4.6 km/s
2185-12-20 16:28:00 Juptr 0.6293 AU 244.9 LD 7.3 km/s

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

Sources