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Comet

LINEAR

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C/2000 B2 (LINEAR)

LINEAR is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 3.78 AU to 14,832.21 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 638,907.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
47.024 AU
True anomaly
147.13°
Distance from Earth
47.139 AU
As of
25 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth LINEAR — 47.024 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 47.139 AU from Earth today (6.5 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 34m 11s
Declination
-77° 47′ 20″
Constellation
Octans
Distance from Earth
47.15 AU
Elongation from the Sun
82.43° — 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
7,417.993 AU
Eccentricity
0.9995
Inclination
93.65°
Orbital period
638,907.3 years
Perihelion
3.776 AU
Aphelion
14,832.211 AU
Longitude of ascending node
284.99°
Argument of periapsis
154.59°
Epoch · J2000
2451584.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 1,116.3 LD
2.8685 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.153

Orbit quality

Observations used
86
Data arc
61 days
First observed
29 January 2000
Last observed
30 March 2000
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
13.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2000 B2

Named

Sources