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Comet

LINEAR

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C/2004 F2 (LINEAR)

LINEAR is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.43 AU to 301.58 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 1,864.9 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
42.478 AU
True anomaly
160.37°
Distance from Earth
42.258 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 — 42.478 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 42.258 AU from Earth today (5.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
07h 49m 12s
Declination
+82° 15′ 07″
Constellation
Camelopardalis
Distance from Earth
42.25 AU
Elongation from the Sun
102.49° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
151.508 AU
Eccentricity
0.9906
Inclination
104.96°
Orbital period
1,864.9 years
Perihelion
1.43 AU
Aphelion
301.585 AU
Longitude of ascending node
248.27°
Argument of periapsis
317.14°
Epoch · J2000
2453129.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 225.8 LD
0.5801 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.348

Orbit quality

Observations used
144
Data arc
119 days
First observed
25 March 2004
Last observed
22 July 2004
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2004 F2

Named

Sources