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Comet

LINEAR

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439P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.828 AU
True anomaly
256.26°
Distance from Earth
2.926 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 — 2.828 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 2.926 AU from Earth today (24.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 13m 29s
Declination
-28° 49′ 34″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
2.93 AU
Elongation from the Sun
74.08° — 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
3.359 AU
Eccentricity
0.5098
Inclination
6.96°
Orbital period
6.16 years
Perihelion
1.646 AU
Aphelion
5.071 AU
Longitude of ascending node
59.1°
Argument of periapsis
337.65°
Epoch · J2000
2455214.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 254.9 LD
0.6551 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.921

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
154
Data arc
13.1 years
First observed
30 November 2008
Last observed
6 January 2022
Residual RMS
0.65 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 February 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 23.3
12.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 439P · 439P/2008 WZ96 · 439P/2021 W1

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2077-07-13 22:50:00 Jupiter 0.2622 AU 102.0 LD 4 km/s
2077-07-13 22:50:00 Juptr 0.2622 AU 102.0 LD 4 km/s
2148-12-23 06:44:00 Juptr 0.3322 AU 129.3 LD 3.9 km/s
2148-12-23 06:44:00 Jupiter 0.3322 AU 129.3 LD 3.9 km/s
2160-08-18 03:21:00 Juptr 0.5909 AU 230.0 LD 4.5 km/s

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

Sources