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Comet Near-Earth

LINEAR

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333P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.542 AU
True anomaly
152.2°
Distance from Earth
5.486 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 — 5.542 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 5.486 AU from Earth today (45.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 10m 30s
Declination
-21° 09′ 32″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
5.5 AU
Elongation from the Sun
87.45° — 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
4.22 AU
Eccentricity
0.7362
Inclination
131.97°
Orbital period
8.67 years
Perihelion
1.113 AU
Aphelion
7.327 AU
Longitude of ascending node
115.62°
Argument of periapsis
26.07°
Epoch · J2000
2458936.5
Orbit class · JFC
Jupiter-family comet (2 < T_J < 3)
Earth MOID · 67.5 LD
0.1734 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.418

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,309
Data arc
18.75 years
First observed
4 November 2007
Last observed
4 August 2026
Residual RMS
0.57 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 August 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
21.04 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 6.8
15

Discovery & classification

Also known as 333P · 333P/2007 VA85

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 11 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of LINEAR at 2068-01-11 10:15 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2068-01-11 10:15 UTC close approach of LINEAR. Catalogue miss distance 69.9 LD · 2.69 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2068-01-08 to 2068-01-14, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 9 Jan 14 Jan 69.9 LD · 2.69 × 10⁷ km 2068-01-11 10:15 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2068-01-11 10:15 UTC close approach of LINEAR. Catalogue miss distance 69.9 LD · 2.69 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2068-01-08 to 2068-01-14, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-04-12 01:54:00 Juptr 0.6608 AU 257.2 LD 19.9 km/s
2068-01-11 10:15:00 Earth 0.1796 AU 69.9 LD 61.4 km/s
2079-07-21 03:25:00 Juptr 1.8139 AU 705.9 LD 18.1 km/s
2103-12-30 16:47:00 Juptr 0.6748 AU 262.6 LD 22.4 km/s
2139-03-19 07:07:00 Juptr 0.657 AU 255.7 LD 20 km/s
2174-06-25 08:26:00 Juptr 1.8012 AU 701.0 LD 18.1 km/s
2198-12-05 15:53:00 Juptr 0.67 AU 260.7 LD 22.5 km/s

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

Sources