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Comet

LINEAR

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219P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.754 AU
True anomaly
158.39°
Distance from Earth
5.135 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 — 4.754 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 5.135 AU from Earth today (42.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 45m 02s
Declination
+02° 15′ 09″
Constellation
Sextans
Distance from Earth
5.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
62.52° — 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
3.65 AU
Eccentricity
0.352
Inclination
11.53°
Orbital period
6.97 years
Perihelion
2.365 AU
Aphelion
4.935 AU
Longitude of ascending node
231.03°
Argument of periapsis
107.48°
Epoch · J2000
2456827.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 540.1 LD
1.3879 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.962

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,145
Data arc
22.64 years
First observed
5 June 2002
Last observed
23 January 2025
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 February 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 24.8
5.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 219P · 219P/2002 LZ11 · 219P/2009 H1

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2028-06-16 18:19:00 Juptr 1.0702 AU 416.5 LD 3.5 km/s
2077-09-19 22:08:00 Juptr 1.8161 AU 706.8 LD 3.5 km/s
2111-08-28 03:05:00 Juptr 0.9812 AU 381.9 LD 3.5 km/s
2194-10-26 03:43:00 Juptr 0.9344 AU 363.6 LD 3.5 km/s

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

Sources