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Comet

LINEAR

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C/2011 J3 (LINEAR)

LINEAR is a comet in the Halley-type comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.45 AU to 37.68 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 86.53 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
26.925 AU
True anomaly
165.47°
Distance from Earth
27.864 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 — 26.925 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 27.864 AU from Earth today (3.9 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 41m 55s
Declination
-17° 11′ 57″
Constellation
Corvus
Distance from Earth
27.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.16° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
19.564 AU
Eccentricity
0.9258
Inclination
114.71°
Orbital period
86.53 years
Perihelion
1.451 AU
Aphelion
37.676 AU
Longitude of ascending node
21.51°
Argument of periapsis
27.84°
Epoch · J2000
2455711.5
Orbit class · HTC
Halley-type comet
Earth MOID · 201.1 LD
0.5166 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
-0.347

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
83
Data arc
66 days
First observed
14 May 2011
Last observed
19 July 2011
Residual RMS
0.67 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.2
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
16.2

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2011 J3

Named

Sources