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Comet

LINEAR

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228P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.152 AU
True anomaly
261.08°
Distance from Earth
3.217 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 — 4.152 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 3.217 AU from Earth today (26.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
03h 15m 28s
Declination
+20° 59′ 18″
Constellation
Aries
Distance from Earth
3.21 AU
Elongation from the Sun
157.74° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
4.168 AU
Eccentricity
0.177
Inclination
7.92°
Orbital period
8.51 years
Perihelion
3.43 AU
Aphelion
4.906 AU
Longitude of ascending node
31.07°
Argument of periapsis
114.8°
Epoch · J2000
2455682.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 954.6 LD
2.4528 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.993

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
438
Data arc
23.92 years
First observed
9 December 2001
Last observed
9 November 2025
Residual RMS
0.76 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
9.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.5
9.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 228P · 228P/2001 YX127 · 228P/2009 U2

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2030-06-22 17:00:00 Juptr 1.4449 AU 562.3 LD 2.9 km/s
2034-04-06 02:02:00 Juptr 1.2079 AU 470.1 LD 5.4 km/s
2058-01-31 21:43:00 Juptr 0.6449 AU 251.0 LD 4.3 km/s
2093-08-19 12:54:00 Juptr 0.8757 AU 340.8 LD 5 km/s
2152-06-30 20:00:00 Juptr 1.1882 AU 462.4 LD 5.3 km/s
2188-07-03 19:01:00 Juptr 1.1718 AU 456.0 LD 5.8 km/s

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

Sources