Skip to content
Public Universe
Comet

LINEAR

Add to an observing list or journal →

498P/LINEAR

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
5.032 AU
True anomaly
132.46°
Distance from Earth
5.95 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 — 5.032 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 5.95 AU from Earth today (49.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 51m 54s
Declination
-25° 57′ 54″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
5.96 AU
Elongation from the Sun
20.26° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
4.592 AU
Eccentricity
0.5724
Inclination
14.48°
Orbital period
9.84 years
Perihelion
1.964 AU
Aphelion
7.22 AU
Longitude of ascending node
279.25°
Argument of periapsis
179.14°
Epoch · J2000
2460344.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 381.5 LD
0.9803 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.625

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
368
Data arc
10.33 years
First observed
25 November 2014
Last observed
24 March 2025
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
11 April 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
6.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 40
6.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 498P · 498P/2015 CD60

Named

Close approaches 11 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-02-18 00:24:00 Juptr 1.5986 AU 622.1 LD 10.9 km/s
2066-04-25 02:12:00 Juptr 0.9374 AU 364.8 LD 8.2 km/s
2079-11-25 12:11:00 Juptr 1.8838 AU 733.1 LD 6.3 km/s
2125-08-27 06:20:00 Juptr 1.1629 AU 452.6 LD 9.4 km/s
2151-12-13 04:58:00 Juptr 1.3374 AU 520.5 LD 9.2 km/s
2197-03-28 14:46:00 Juptr 1.5838 AU 616.4 LD 6.1 km/s

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

Sources