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Comet

LINEAR-NEAT

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204P/LINEAR-NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.338 AU
True anomaly
187.89°
Distance from Earth
5.553 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-NEAT — 5.338 AU from the Sun LINEAR-NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR-NEAT is 5.553 AU from Earth today (46.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 51m 25s
Declination
-23° 14′ 26″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
5.56 AU
Elongation from the Sun
72.12° — 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
3.656 AU
Eccentricity
0.4722
Inclination
6.59°
Orbital period
6.99 years
Perihelion
1.93 AU
Aphelion
5.383 AU
Longitude of ascending node
109.07°
Argument of periapsis
355.05°
Epoch · J2000
2456989.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 368.5 LD
0.9469 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.891

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,273
Data arc
14.68 years
First observed
8 September 2008
Last observed
14 May 2023
Residual RMS
0.64 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
7 May 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
15.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 7.5
15.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 204P · 204P/2001 TU80 · 204P/2008 R5

Named

Close approaches 14 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2031-09-27 21:13:00 Juptr 1.5548 AU 605.1 LD 9 km/s
2067-10-22 09:22:00 Juptr 0.1549 AU 60.3 LD 5.1 km/s
2067-10-22 09:22:00 Jupiter 0.1549 AU 60.3 LD 5.1 km/s
2102-03-26 01:39:00 Juptr 1.9005 AU 739.6 LD 9.7 km/s
2126-10-27 20:38:00 Juptr 0.2394 AU 93.2 LD 4.6 km/s
2126-10-27 20:38:00 Jupiter 0.2394 AU 93.2 LD 4.6 km/s
2148-08-22 23:08:00 Juptr 0.5065 AU 197.1 LD 5.5 km/s
2184-05-29 09:11:00 Juptr 1.8266 AU 710.8 LD 9 km/s

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

Sources