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Comet

LINEAR

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235P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.907 AU
True anomaly
93.7°
Distance from Earth
3.122 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 — 2.907 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 3.122 AU from Earth today (26.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 46m 42s
Declination
-14° 13′ 54″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
3.13 AU
Elongation from the Sun
68.08° — 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
3.465 AU
Eccentricity
0.4292
Inclination
9.91°
Orbital period
6.45 years
Perihelion
1.978 AU
Aphelion
4.952 AU
Longitude of ascending node
200.76°
Argument of periapsis
351.05°
Epoch · J2000
2460392.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 380.9 LD
0.9787 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.954

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
2,057
Data arc
24.71 years
First observed
26 December 2001
Last observed
13 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.75 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 23.5
6.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 235P · 235P/2002 FA9 · 235P/2010 F2

Named

Close approaches 16 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2034-07-03 08:18:00 Juptr 1.4944 AU 581.6 LD 8.1 km/s
2082-10-01 16:20:00 Juptr 1.457 AU 567.0 LD 8.4 km/s
2093-12-10 09:00:00 Jupiter 0.422 AU 164.2 LD 4.9 km/s
2093-12-10 09:00:00 Juptr 0.422 AU 164.2 LD 4.9 km/s
2129-05-17 06:51:00 Juptr 0.8207 AU 319.4 LD 5.7 km/s
2154-01-03 17:00:00 Jupiter 0.4402 AU 171.3 LD 4.7 km/s
2154-01-03 17:01:00 Juptr 0.4402 AU 171.3 LD 4.7 km/s
2200-07-30 22:22:00 Jupiter 0.3078 AU 119.8 LD 5.3 km/s
2200-07-30 22:22:00 Juptr 0.3078 AU 119.8 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources