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Comet

LINEAR-Mueller

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188P/LINEAR-Mueller

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.863 AU
True anomaly
50.64°
Distance from Earth
2.315 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-Mueller — 2.863 AU from the Sun LINEAR-Mueller
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR-Mueller is 2.315 AU from Earth today (19.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 24m 24s
Declination
+36° 07′ 36″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
2.31 AU
Elongation from the Sun
114.25° — 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
4.378 AU
Eccentricity
0.4163
Inclination
10.53°
Orbital period
9.16 years
Perihelion
2.556 AU
Aphelion
6.201 AU
Longitude of ascending node
359.12°
Argument of periapsis
26.69°
Epoch · J2000
2456014.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 608.3 LD
1.563 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.828

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,274
Data arc
19.41 years
First observed
13 May 2007
Last observed
8 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.73 ″
Solution · Shantanu Naidu
14 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.6
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
14.6

Discovery & classification

Also known as 188P · 188P/1998 S1 · 188P/2007 J7

Named

Close approaches 10 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2042-06-10 03:07:00 Juptr 1.7439 AU 678.7 LD 8 km/s
2078-01-20 23:16:00 Juptr 0.9348 AU 363.8 LD 4.2 km/s
2113-08-13 22:20:00 Juptr 1.2262 AU 477.2 LD 6.4 km/s
2135-03-04 02:32:00 Juptr 1.2415 AU 483.1 LD 7.8 km/s
2170-07-07 13:49:00 Juptr 0.3474 AU 135.2 LD 5.7 km/s
2170-07-07 13:49:00 Jupiter 0.3474 AU 135.2 LD 5.7 km/s
2185-09-18 18:17:00 Juptr 0.6599 AU 256.8 LD 5.9 km/s

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

Sources