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Solar
Comet

LINEAR

235P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.802 AU
True anomaly
88.83°
As of
17 September 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.

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 17m 24s
Declination
-13° 00′ 03″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
2.73 AU
Elongation from the Sun
83.98° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

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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
3.465 AU
Eccentricity
0.4292
Inclination
9.92°
Orbital period
6.45 years
Perihelion
1.978 AU
Aphelion
4.952 AU
Longitude of ascending node
200.77°
Argument of periapsis
351.03°
Epoch · J2000
2460390.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 380.9 LD
0.9787 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.954

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
2,051
Data arc
24.71 years
First observed
26 December 2001
Last observed
13 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.76 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 23.5
6.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 235P

Named

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2093-12-10 09:00:00 Jupiter 0.422 AU 164.2 LD 4.9 km/s
2154-01-03 16:58:00 Jupiter 0.4402 AU 171.3 LD 4.7 km/s
2200-07-30 22:24:00 Jupiter 0.3077 AU 119.8 LD 5.3 km/s

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

Sources