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Comet Near-Earth

LINEAR

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252P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.048 AU
True anomaly
331.13°
Distance from Earth
1.832 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 — 1.048 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 1.832 AU from Earth today (15.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 24m 40s
Declination
-00° 44′ 40″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.83 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.08° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
3.047 AU
Eccentricity
0.6731
Inclination
10.42°
Orbital period
5.32 years
Perihelion
0.996 AU
Aphelion
5.098 AU
Longitude of ascending node
190.95°
Argument of periapsis
343.31°
Epoch · J2000
2457552.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 4.8 LD
0.0122 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.821

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
122
Data arc
5.4 years
First observed
5 April 2016
Last observed
29 August 2021
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
7 September 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 16.5
16.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 252P · 252P/2000 G1 · 252P/2011 L5

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 19 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of LINEAR at 2032-03-05 23:40 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-03-05 23:40 UTC close approach of LINEAR. Catalogue miss distance 37.0 LD · 1.42 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-03-02 to 2032-03-08, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 37.0 LD · 1.42 × 10⁷ km 2032-03-05 23:40 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2032-03-05 23:40 UTC close approach of LINEAR. Catalogue miss distance 37.0 LD · 1.42 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2032-03-02 to 2032-03-08, 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 approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2032-03-05 23:40:00 Earth 0.0952 AU 37.0 LD 10.7 km/s
2033-12-23 03:02:00 Juptr 0.746 AU 290.3 LD 8.2 km/s
2046-08-09 15:50:00 Jupiter 0.1343 AU 52.3 LD 7.8 km/s
2046-08-09 15:50:00 Juptr 0.1343 AU 52.3 LD 7.8 km/s
2082-03-30 17:09:00 Jupiter 0.4634 AU 180.4 LD 8.1 km/s
2082-03-30 17:09:00 Juptr 0.4634 AU 180.4 LD 8.1 km/s

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

Sources