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Comet

LINEAR

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256P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.221 AU
True anomaly
157.16°
Distance from Earth
5.451 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 — 6.221 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 5.451 AU from Earth today (45.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 50m 08s
Declination
-28° 51′ 46″
Constellation
Sculptor
Distance from Earth
5.46 AU
Elongation from the Sun
136.99° — 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
4.631 AU
Eccentricity
0.4194
Inclination
27.63°
Orbital period
9.97 years
Perihelion
2.689 AU
Aphelion
6.573 AU
Longitude of ascending node
81.44°
Argument of periapsis
124.12°
Epoch · J2000
2457065.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 693.3 LD
1.7814 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.641

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
270
Data arc
20.44 years
First observed
27 January 2003
Last observed
8 July 2023
Residual RMS
0.8 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
30 May 2024

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
12
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 13.3
12

Discovery & classification

Also known as 256P · 256P/2003 HT15 · 256P/2012 B2

Named

Close approaches 8 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-04-13 03:17:00 Juptr 1.7937 AU 698.1 LD 8.8 km/s
2060-07-29 14:04:00 Jupiter 0.0748 AU 29.1 LD 9.6 km/s
2060-07-29 14:04:00 Juptr 0.0748 AU 29.1 LD 9.6 km/s
2119-11-06 01:26:00 Juptr 0.0618 AU 24.1 LD 9.8 km/s
2119-11-06 01:26:00 Jupiter 0.0618 AU 24.1 LD 9.8 km/s

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

Sources