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Comet

LINEAR

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160P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.447 AU
True anomaly
229.25°
Distance from Earth
5.387 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth LINEAR — 4.447 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 5.387 AU from Earth today (44.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 15m 57s
Declination
-27° 30′ 04″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
5.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
17.12° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
3.967 AU
Eccentricity
0.4791
Inclination
17.28°
Orbital period
7.9 years
Perihelion
2.067 AU
Aphelion
5.868 AU
Longitude of ascending node
337°
Argument of periapsis
18.2°
Epoch · J2000
2456189.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 415.3 LD
1.0671 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.775

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
973
Data arc
24.13 years
First observed
8 September 1996
Last observed
24 October 2020
Residual RMS
0.69 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
19 May 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 31.3
6.7

Discovery & classification

Also known as 160P · 160P/2004 NL21

Named

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2051-02-26 23:09:00 Juptr 1.742 AU 677.9 LD 9.7 km/s
2075-09-03 11:34:00 Juptr 0.771 AU 300.1 LD 5.4 km/s
2110-07-29 22:06:00 Juptr 0.4421 AU 172.0 LD 5.2 km/s
2110-07-29 22:06:00 Jupiter 0.4421 AU 172.0 LD 5.2 km/s
2146-11-28 18:19:00 Juptr 1.2544 AU 488.2 LD 7.9 km/s
2157-08-24 09:55:00 Juptr 1.0623 AU 413.4 LD 8.3 km/s
2193-04-14 05:28:00 Jupiter 0.2599 AU 101.1 LD 5.6 km/s
2193-04-14 05:28:00 Juptr 0.2599 AU 101.1 LD 5.6 km/s

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

Sources