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Comet

LINEAR

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C/2003 W1 (LINEAR)

LINEAR is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.65 AU to 48.69 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 126.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
34.83 AU
True anomaly
166.42°
Distance from Earth
35.105 AU
As of
24 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 — 34.83 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 35.105 AU from Earth today (4.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 59m 37s
Declination
-68° 27′ 56″
Constellation
Volans
Distance from Earth
35.11 AU
Elongation from the Sun
73.17° — 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
25.17 AU
Eccentricity
0.9343
Inclination
78.08°
Orbital period
126.3 years
Perihelion
1.652 AU
Aphelion
48.687 AU
Longitude of ascending node
256.74°
Argument of periapsis
113.29°
Epoch · J2000
2452979.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 414.7 LD
1.0657 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.531

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
95
Data arc
89 days
First observed
16 November 2003
Last observed
13 February 2004
Residual RMS
0.72 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2003 W1

Named

Sources