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Comet

LINEAR

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402P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
8.39 AU
True anomaly
138.44°
Distance from Earth
9.221 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth LINEAR — 8.39 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 9.221 AU from Earth today (1.3 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 33m 33s
Declination
+08° 25′ 37″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
9.22 AU
Elongation from the Sun
31.48° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
6.979 AU
Eccentricity
0.4388
Inclination
30.89°
Orbital period
18.44 years
Perihelion
3.916 AU
Aphelion
10.041 AU
Longitude of ascending node
123.13°
Argument of periapsis
326.98°
Epoch · J2000
2456341.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 1,157.8 LD
2.9751 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.532

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
2,131
Data arc
22.55 years
First observed
22 November 2001
Last observed
10 June 2024
Residual RMS
0.62 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 July 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
5.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14.8
5.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 402P · 402P/2002 T5 · 402P/2020 Q3

Named

Close approaches 7 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2108-06-02 19:02:00 Satrn 1.4747 AU 573.9 LD 5.6 km/s
2132-07-31 12:42:00 Juptr 1.5194 AU 591.3 LD 8.9 km/s
2168-01-20 10:46:00 Juptr 1.5988 AU 622.2 LD 8.9 km/s
2196-11-13 10:41:00 Satrn 1.3683 AU 532.5 LD 4.9 km/s

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

Sources