About C/1989 A6 (Shoemaker)
C/1989 A6 (Shoemaker) is an uncommon comet. It swings within 2.208 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
On a near-parabolic path — this may well be its one and only visit to the inner Solar System.
Uncommon comet 24 EP
C/1989 A6 (Shoemaker)
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 3 badgesUncommon 34 pts → Rare
- Near-parabolic comet +10
- Has a proper name +8
- Comet +6
Total score 24
10 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Has a proper name · +8
- Near-parabolic comet · +10
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. On a near-parabolic path — this may well be its one and only visit to the inner Solar System.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 2.21 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Jupiter.
- Wild orbit. Its highly elliptical path swings between scorching and frozen each lap.
Standing on it
- Sunlight there. Even at its closest the sunlight is only about 21% as strong as Earth's.
- Tail. Its tail always points away from the Sun, never trailing behind its motion — it is blown, not dragged.
By the numbers
- Made of. A comet is a dirty snowball: water ice, frozen carbon dioxide and dust, held together loosely enough that some simply crumble when the Sun warms them.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- designation
- 1989 A6
- eccentricity
- 1
- full name
- C/1989 A6 (Shoemaker)
- inclination
- 25.51
- moid au
- 1.24
- name
- C/1989 A6 (Shoemaker)
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- PAR
- perihelion au
- 2.208
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, C/1989 A6 (Shoemaker) is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why C/1989 A6 (Shoemaker) is an uncommon comet
C/1989 A6 (Shoemaker) scores 24 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 10 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 3 science badges — Comet, Has a proper name and Near-parabolic comet — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.