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Comet

LINEAR

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C/1999 G1 (LINEAR)

LINEAR is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 4.05 AU to 52.48 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 150.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
37.673 AU
True anomaly
159.11°
Distance from Earth
37.293 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.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth LINEAR — 37.673 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 37.293 AU from Earth today (5.2 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
02h 19m 48s
Declination
-56° 07′ 15″
Constellation
Horologium
Distance from Earth
37.3 AU
Elongation from the Sun
111.64° — 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
28.267 AU
Eccentricity
0.8568
Inclination
76.57°
Orbital period
150.3 years
Perihelion
4.049 AU
Aphelion
52.485 AU
Longitude of ascending node
23.46°
Argument of periapsis
136.13°
Epoch · J2000
2451280.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 1,269.7 LD
3.2627 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
0.742

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
76
Data arc
51 days
First observed
23 March 1999
Last observed
13 May 1999
Residual RMS
1.06 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
8
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
8

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1999 G1

Named

Sources