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Comet

LINEAR

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C/2002 CE10 (LINEAR)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
14.19 AU
True anomaly
200.45°
Distance from Earth
14.973 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 — 14.19 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 14.973 AU from Earth today (2.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 25m 35s
Declination
-15° 02′ 13″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
14.97 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.05° — 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
9.816 AU
Eccentricity
0.7915
Inclination
145.46°
Orbital period
30.75 years
Perihelion
2.047 AU
Aphelion
17.585 AU
Longitude of ascending node
147.44°
Argument of periapsis
126.19°
Epoch · J2000
2452812.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 463.8 LD
1.1919 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.853

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
821
Data arc
894 days
First observed
11 January 2002
Last observed
23 June 2004
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 September 2025

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
13.5
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
13.5

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2002 CE10

Named

Close approaches 4 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2062-10-12 22:00:00 Juptr 0.6872 AU 267.4 LD 23.9 km/s
2184-09-09 23:32:00 Satrn 1.4155 AU 550.9 LD 18.6 km/s

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

Sources