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Comet

LINEAR

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234P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.094 AU
True anomaly
120.36°
Distance from Earth
4.223 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 — 4.094 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 4.223 AU from Earth today (35.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 00m 26s
Declination
-12° 53′ 04″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
4.23 AU
Elongation from the Sun
75.41° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

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
3.815 AU
Eccentricity
0.2508
Inclination
11.52°
Orbital period
7.45 years
Perihelion
2.858 AU
Aphelion
4.771 AU
Longitude of ascending node
179.72°
Argument of periapsis
358.13°
Epoch · J2000
2456045.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 724.7 LD
1.8621 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.988

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
377
Data arc
23.51 years
First observed
26 December 2001
Last observed
29 June 2025
Residual RMS
0.7 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 July 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
7.4
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 22.8
7.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 234P · 234P/2002 CF140 · 234P/2010 E4

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2058-02-20 18:28:00 Juptr 0.3298 AU 128.4 LD 3.9 km/s
2058-02-20 18:28:00 Jupiter 0.3298 AU 128.4 LD 3.9 km/s
2061-11-17 22:57:00 Juptr 1.1431 AU 444.9 LD 2.7 km/s
2112-01-04 03:25:00 Juptr 1.1839 AU 460.7 LD 3.6 km/s
2160-07-13 05:42:00 Juptr 1.3698 AU 533.1 LD 3 km/s
2164-09-18 03:08:00 Juptr 1.2962 AU 504.4 LD 4.9 km/s
2200-04-20 19:52:00 Juptr 0.714 AU 277.9 LD 3.9 km/s

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

Sources