Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

Shoemaker

Add to an observing list or journal →

C/1984 U2 (Shoemaker)

Shoemaker is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.21 AU to 82.29 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 269.8 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
54.632 AU
True anomaly
170.01°
Distance from Earth
55.262 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Shoemaker — 54.632 AU from the Sun Shoemaker
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Shoemaker is 55.262 AU from Earth today (7.7 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 23m 30s
Declination
-14° 31′ 57″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
55.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
49.8° — 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
41.75 AU
Eccentricity
0.9709
Inclination
13.88°
Orbital period
269.8 years
Perihelion
1.215 AU
Aphelion
82.286 AU
Longitude of ascending node
223.48°
Argument of periapsis
229.21°
Epoch · J2000
2446068.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 113.2 LD
0.291 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.442

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
147
Data arc
209 days
First observed
25 October 1984
Last observed
22 May 1985
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 20.8
10.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1984 U2

Named

Sources