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Comet

NEAT-LINEAR

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472P/NEAT-LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
6.031 AU
True anomaly
103.34°
Distance from Earth
6.807 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 NEAT-LINEAR — 6.031 AU from the Sun NEAT-LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. NEAT-LINEAR is 6.807 AU from Earth today (56.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 35m 03s
Declination
-03° 46′ 22″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
6.81 AU
Elongation from the Sun
36.11° — 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
7.643 AU
Eccentricity
0.5592
Inclination
10.9°
Orbital period
21.13 years
Perihelion
3.369 AU
Aphelion
11.918 AU
Longitude of ascending node
207.85°
Argument of periapsis
218.51°
Epoch · J2000
2458237.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 931.4 LD
2.3932 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.654

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
1,350
Data arc
22.59 years
First observed
15 September 2002
Last observed
19 April 2025
Residual RMS
0.71 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 14
6.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 472P · 472P/2002 T6 · 472P/2023 RL75

Named

Close approaches 6 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2132-05-09 03:14:00 Juptr 1.7006 AU 661.8 LD 6.4 km/s
2161-02-15 17:13:00 Satrn 1.7476 AU 680.1 LD 3.8 km/s

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

Sources