Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

LINEAR

Add to an observing list or journal →

277P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.56 AU
True anomaly
222.96°
Distance from Earth
4.808 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 — 4.56 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 4.808 AU from Earth today (40.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 38m 25s
Declination
-19° 02′ 28″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
4.81 AU
Elongation from the Sun
69.31° — 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
3.858 AU
Eccentricity
0.5038
Inclination
16.75°
Orbital period
7.58 years
Perihelion
1.914 AU
Aphelion
5.801 AU
Longitude of ascending node
276.35°
Argument of periapsis
152.18°
Epoch · J2000
2457647.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 367.7 LD
0.9448 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.773

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
828
Data arc
15.5 years
First observed
15 September 2005
Last observed
18 March 2021
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
2 May 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 19.5
11.8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 277P · 277P/2005 YQ127 · 277P/2013 A3

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2054-03-30 11:04:00 Juptr 1.2959 AU 504.3 LD 6 km/s
2078-05-14 02:58:00 Juptr 1.0455 AU 406.9 LD 5.4 km/s
2101-09-08 07:47:00 Juptr 1.293 AU 503.2 LD 5.8 km/s
2162-02-12 11:07:00 Juptr 1.6599 AU 646.0 LD 9.4 km/s
2185-12-20 21:21:00 Jupiter 0.42 AU 163.5 LD 6.7 km/s
2185-12-20 21:21:00 Juptr 0.42 AU 163.5 LD 6.7 km/s

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

Sources