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Comet

LINEAR

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230P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.405 AU
True anomaly
212.87°
Distance from Earth
4.741 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 — 4.405 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 4.741 AU from Earth today (39.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 30m 22s
Declination
-19° 03′ 38″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
4.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
64.09° — 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
3.4 AU
Eccentricity
0.5631
Inclination
14.65°
Orbital period
6.27 years
Perihelion
1.485 AU
Aphelion
5.314 AU
Longitude of ascending node
112.4°
Argument of periapsis
308.91°
Epoch · J2000
2457211.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 212.8 LD
0.5467 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.823

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,528
Data arc
28.38 years
First observed
10 January 1997
Last observed
30 May 2025
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
13 November 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 5
15.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 230P · 230P/1997 A2 · 230P/2002 Q15 · 230P/2009 U6

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2078-08-18 16:10:00 Juptr 1.5743 AU 612.7 LD 9 km/s
2090-07-26 23:55:00 Juptr 0.7665 AU 298.3 LD 4.8 km/s
2149-11-19 10:30:00 Juptr 1.1105 AU 432.2 LD 7.7 km/s
2161-07-06 02:23:00 Juptr 0.9609 AU 374.0 LD 4.9 km/s

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

Sources