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Comet

Catalina-LINEAR

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227P/Catalina-LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.176 AU
True anomaly
164.37°
Distance from Earth
5.196 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 Catalina-LINEAR — 5.176 AU from the Sun Catalina-LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Catalina-LINEAR is 5.196 AU from Earth today (43.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 42m 37s
Declination
-27° 42′ 28″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
5.2 AU
Elongation from the Sun
83.05° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
3.559 AU
Eccentricity
0.5104
Inclination
6.51°
Orbital period
6.71 years
Perihelion
1.742 AU
Aphelion
5.376 AU
Longitude of ascending node
48.59°
Argument of periapsis
90.86°
Epoch · J2000
2459300.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 299.9 LD
0.7706 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.875

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,235
Data arc
27.52 years
First observed
15 January 1997
Last observed
23 July 2024
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
10 January 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.1
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 18.5
12.1

Discovery & classification

Also known as 227P · 227P/2004 EW38 · 227P/2009 S4

Named

Close approaches 14 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-10-22 06:57:00 Juptr 0.6669 AU 259.5 LD 6.1 km/s
2081-07-19 19:55:00 Jupiter 0.2839 AU 110.5 LD 6.1 km/s
2081-07-19 19:55:00 Juptr 0.2839 AU 110.5 LD 6.1 km/s
2092-08-04 14:11:00 Juptr 0.7303 AU 284.2 LD 5.4 km/s
2152-08-04 05:38:00 Juptr 1.4283 AU 555.9 LD 9.3 km/s
2164-04-12 22:17:00 Juptr 0.3664 AU 142.6 LD 5.3 km/s
2164-04-12 22:17:00 Jupiter 0.3664 AU 142.6 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources