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public LocationGreenwich, UK
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 5:21 
Transit: 13:06 
Sunset: 20:50
wb_twilight   (Astronomical Twilight)   What's Visible Now?
Comets » 

Comet 199P/Shoemaker

Above the horizon.  Rise: 2:02 | Tran: 5:58 | Set: 9:55
Alt: 8.82°   Az: 143.55°   Direction: South-East

Comet 199P/Shoemaker is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 491,756,850.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 28m 16s and the Declination is -22° 01’ 41” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 199P/Shoemaker is 19.12 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder chart of 199P/Shoemaker in Cetus on July,29 2024
Map showing Comet 199P/Shoemaker in Cetus on July, 29 2024. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 28m 16s
-22° 01’ 41”
21h 22m 48s
22h 51m 04s

J2000

01h 27m 05s
-22° 09’ 17”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
19.12

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 199P/Shoemaker from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 112.0°
Max altitude: 16.5°
Azimuth: 247.9°
  • 199P/Shoemaker is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the South-East direction at an altitude of 8.82° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 199P/Shoemaker is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Finder Charts

Finder chart of 199P/Shoemaker
Sky map showing Comet 199P/Shoemaker in Cetus on July, 29 2024. Field of view: 10x6 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 199P/Shoemaker is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

199P/Shoemaker
RA: 01h 27m 05s
Dec: -22° 09’ 17”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 199P/Shoemaker. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 199P/Shoemaker?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 199P/Shoemaker in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 199P/Shoemaker from Earth is currently 491,756,850.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.2871915068 Astronomical Units. Light takes 27m 20.324s to travel from Comet 199P/Shoemaker and arrive to us.

491,756,850.0
3.2871915068
27m 20.324s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 199P/Shoemaker from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Comet 199P/Shoemaker from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 199P/Shoemaker from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 199P/Shoemaker to Earth happens on Mon Jul 1 2080 at a distance of 1.904339 Astronomical Units, or 284,885,118 kilometers:

Mon Jul 1 2080
284,885,118
1.904339

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 199P/Shoemaker, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 199P/Shoemaker as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 199P/Shoemaker at epoch 09 February 2009 00:00 UTC (JD: 2454872.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.50778118
Orbit inclination i 24.76497749°
Perihelion distance q 2.93541074 AU
439,131,198 km
Aphelion distance Q 8.99184864 AU
1,345,161,413 km
Semi-major axis a 5.96362969 AU
892,146,306 km
Orbital period period 14.5638 years
5,319.4218 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2009-Apr-09 21:34:16
2,454,931.3988 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-Nov-02 07:41
2,460,250.8206 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 191.93508802605°
Longitude of the ascending node node 92.948125206371°
Mean anomaly M 356.01393368245°
Mean motion n 0.06767653°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 199P/Shoemaker
View Comet 199P/Shoemaker in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 199P/Shoemaker computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2024 Jul 22 01h 25m 55s -21° 23’ 34” 19.11 Cetus
2024 Jul 23 01h 26m 18s -21° 28’ 39” 19.11 Cetus
2024 Jul 24 01h 26m 40s -21° 33’ 51” 19.11 Cetus
2024 Jul 25 01h 27m 01s -21° 39’ 07” 19.11 Cetus
2024 Jul 26 01h 27m 21s -21° 44’ 29” 19.12 Cetus
2024 Jul 27 01h 27m 39s -21° 49’ 57” 19.12 Cetus
2024 Jul 28 01h 27m 57s -21° 55’ 30” 19.12 Cetus
2024 Jul 29 01h 28m 14s -22° 01’ 07” 19.12 Cetus
2024 Jul 30 01h 28m 29s -22° 06’ 49” 19.13 Cetus
2024 Jul 31 01h 28m 44s -22° 12’ 36” 19.13 Cetus
2024 Aug 01 01h 28m 57s -22° 18’ 29” 19.13 Cetus
2024 Aug 02 01h 29m 09s -22° 24’ 25” 19.13 Cetus
2024 Aug 03 01h 29m 21s -22° 30’ 25” 19.14 Cetus
2024 Aug 04 01h 29m 31s -22° 36’ 30” 19.14 Cetus

Additional Resources