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Comet Near-Earth

LINEAR

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197P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.436 AU
True anomaly
217.96°
Distance from Earth
3.446 AU
As of
21 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 — 3.436 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 3.446 AU from Earth today (28.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 03m 54s
Declination
+35° 56′ 27″
Constellation
Lynx
Distance from Earth
3.43 AU
Elongation from the Sun
81.79° — 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
2.867 AU
Eccentricity
0.6299
Inclination
25.56°
Orbital period
4.86 years
Perihelion
1.061 AU
Aphelion
4.674 AU
Longitude of ascending node
66.4°
Argument of periapsis
188.75°
Epoch · J2000
2454004.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 19.8 LD
0.0508 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.855

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
325
Data arc
20.4 years
First observed
23 May 2003
Last observed
17 October 2023
Residual RMS
0.93 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 October 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
18.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 5.8
18.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 197P · 197P/2003 KV2 · 197P/2008 E2

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 14 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of LINEAR at 2067-06-20 01:02 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2067-06-20 01:02 UTC close approach of LINEAR. Catalogue miss distance 108.2 LD · 4.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2067-06-17 to 2067-06-23, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. approximate Sun 108.2 LD · 4.16 × 10⁷ km 2067-06-20 01:02 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2067-06-20 01:02 UTC close approach of LINEAR. Catalogue miss distance 108.2 LD · 4.16 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2067-06-17 to 2067-06-23, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is approximate: a two-body Kepler propagation of the catalogue orbital elements, not a numerical integration. The Moon’s position is approximate. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2060-06-14 20:26:00 Juptr 0.9861 AU 383.8 LD 7.6 km/s
2067-06-20 01:02:00 Earth 0.2781 AU 108.2 LD 17.3 km/s
2083-12-27 12:22:00 Juptr 0.5403 AU 210.3 LD 7.3 km/s
2119-10-03 19:45:00 Juptr 0.7495 AU 291.7 LD 6.8 km/s
2143-05-15 07:46:00 Juptr 1.1184 AU 435.3 LD 9.1 km/s
2179-01-15 17:39:00 Juptr 0.6732 AU 262.0 LD 6.6 km/s
2186-06-12 02:49:00 Earth 0.158 AU 61.5 LD 15.2 km/s

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

Sources