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Comet Near-Earth

LINEAR

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222P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.91 AU
True anomaly
183.48°
Distance from Earth
5.846 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 — 4.91 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 5.846 AU from Earth today (48.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 01m 00s
Declination
+00° 47′ 40″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
5.84 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.06° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
2.857 AU
Eccentricity
0.7268
Inclination
5.15°
Orbital period
4.83 years
Perihelion
0.781 AU
Aphelion
4.934 AU
Longitude of ascending node
7.13°
Argument of periapsis
345.43°
Epoch · J2000
2454620.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 24.4 LD
0.0628 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.835

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
239
Data arc
14.46 years
First observed
7 December 2004
Last observed
26 May 2019
Residual RMS
0.8 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
19.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 11
19.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 222P · 222P/2004 X1 · 222P/2009 MB9

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 34 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of LINEAR at 2058-09-18 23:48 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2058-09-18 23:48 UTC close approach of LINEAR. Catalogue miss distance 90.0 LD · 3.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2058-09-15 to 2058-09-21, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 90.0 LD · 3.46 × 10⁷ km 2058-09-18 23:48 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2058-09-18 23:48 UTC close approach of LINEAR. Catalogue miss distance 90.0 LD · 3.46 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2058-09-15 to 2058-09-21, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2052-01-29 08:45:00 Juptr 1.0006 AU 389.4 LD 7.5 km/s
2058-09-18 23:48:00 Earth 0.2313 AU 90.0 LD 15.2 km/s
2075-09-24 23:04:00 Jupiter 0.4895 AU 190.5 LD 5.8 km/s
2075-09-24 23:04:00 Juptr 0.4895 AU 190.5 LD 5.8 km/s
2087-08-14 20:06:00 Earth 0.2151 AU 83.7 LD 14.7 km/s
2087-09-18 05:11:00 Venus 0.1394 AU 54.3 LD 16.4 km/s
2099-05-12 12:53:00 Juptr 0.5559 AU 216.3 LD 6 km/s
2121-12-07 12:08:00 Earth 0.3455 AU 134.5 LD 26.7 km/s
2126-11-07 17:08:00 Earth 0.0656 AU 25.5 LD 14.8 km/s
2131-09-18 06:00:00 Earth 0.1797 AU 69.9 LD 13.6 km/s

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

Sources