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Comet

LINEAR

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214P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.207 AU
True anomaly
194.61°
Distance from Earth
4.273 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 LINEAR — 5.207 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 4.273 AU from Earth today (35.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 18m 12s
Declination
+10° 22′ 23″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
4.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
157.31° — well clear of the Sun

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
3.604 AU
Eccentricity
0.4896
Inclination
15.23°
Orbital period
6.84 years
Perihelion
1.84 AU
Aphelion
5.369 AU
Longitude of ascending node
348.31°
Argument of periapsis
190.16°
Epoch · J2000
2452790.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 329.2 LD
0.846 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.844

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
131
Data arc
7.3 years
First observed
15 January 2002
Last observed
3 May 2009
Residual RMS
0.67 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 22.8
12.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 214P · 214P/2002 CW134 · 214P/2009 B4

Named

Close approaches 15 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2045-09-12 15:23:00 Juptr 0.1348 AU 52.5 LD 7 km/s
2045-09-12 15:23:00 Jupiter 0.1348 AU 52.5 LD 7 km/s
2069-05-02 01:47:00 Juptr 0.3191 AU 124.2 LD 6.8 km/s
2069-05-02 01:47:00 Jupiter 0.3191 AU 124.2 LD 6.8 km/s
2074-09-08 21:04:00 Juptr 1.9877 AU 773.6 LD 7.9 km/s
2153-01-06 13:27:00 Juptr 1.4636 AU 569.6 LD 5.6 km/s
2155-10-13 04:46:00 Juptr 1.9339 AU 752.6 LD 5.6 km/s
2188-09-08 18:42:00 Juptr 1.5582 AU 606.4 LD 5.7 km/s

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

Sources