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Comet

Gibbs

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P/2023 Y2 (Gibbs)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.162 AU
True anomaly
169.99°
Distance from Earth
5.769 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 — 5.162 AU from the Sun Gibbs
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Gibbs is 5.769 AU from Earth today (48.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 06m 29s
Declination
-23° 36′ 45″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
5.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
48.05° — 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
3.744 AU
Eccentricity
0.3922
Inclination
6.99°
Orbital period
7.25 years
Perihelion
2.276 AU
Aphelion
5.213 AU
Longitude of ascending node
79.23°
Argument of periapsis
16.8°
Epoch · J2000
2460288.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 503.4 LD
1.2934 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.939

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
90
Data arc
508 days
First observed
23 October 2022
Last observed
14 March 2024
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 January 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 17.8
11.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2023 Y2

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2055-02-17 15:43:00 Juptr 1.1962 AU 465.5 LD 6.7 km/s
2080-02-04 07:46:00 Juptr 0.6231 AU 242.5 LD 4.6 km/s
2126-06-15 20:33:00 Juptr 0.4675 AU 182.0 LD 4.8 km/s
2126-06-15 20:33:00 Jupiter 0.4675 AU 182.0 LD 4.8 km/s

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

Sources