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Public Universe
Comet Near-Earth

LINEAR

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218P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.483 AU
True anomaly
112.23°
Distance from Earth
1.7 AU
As of
11 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 — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth LINEAR — 2.483 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 1.7 AU from Earth today (14.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
22h 09m 55s
Declination
-10° 44′ 25″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
1.71 AU
Elongation from the Sun
131.65° — 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
3.096 AU
Eccentricity
0.622
Inclination
2.73°
Orbital period
5.45 years
Perihelion
1.171 AU
Aphelion
5.022 AU
Longitude of ascending node
176.03°
Argument of periapsis
59.67°
Epoch · J2000
2458035.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 64.9 LD
0.1668 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.887

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
517
Data arc
11.35 years
First observed
29 December 2014
Last observed
5 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.74 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
11 May 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.5
15.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 218P · 218P/2003 H4 · 218P/2009 F7

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 16 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-09-16 21:45:00 Mars 0.0996 AU 38.8 LD 14.1 km/s
2036-08-02 01:17:00 Mars 0.0848 AU 33.0 LD 13.5 km/s
2059-08-30 04:10:00 Juptr 1.6968 AU 660.3 LD 11 km/s
2071-10-12 01:42:00 Jupiter 0.111 AU 43.2 LD 6.6 km/s
2071-10-12 01:42:00 Juptr 0.111 AU 43.2 LD 6.6 km/s
2083-11-25 21:57:00 Juptr 0.8538 AU 332.3 LD 8.1 km/s
2130-10-21 06:14:00 Juptr 1.6482 AU 641.5 LD 10.1 km/s
2142-10-28 20:59:00 Jupiter 0.1397 AU 54.4 LD 6.5 km/s
2142-10-28 20:59:00 Juptr 0.1397 AU 54.4 LD 6.5 km/s

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

Sources