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Comet

LINEAR

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P/1998 VS24 (LINEAR)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
3.601 AU
True anomaly
316.26°
Distance from Earth
2.778 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 — 3.601 AU from the Sun LINEAR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR is 2.778 AU from Earth today (23.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 26m 14s
Declination
-06° 10′ 22″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
2.78 AU
Elongation from the Sun
139.72° — well clear of the Sun

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
4.504 AU
Eccentricity
0.2439
Inclination
5.03°
Orbital period
9.56 years
Perihelion
3.405 AU
Aphelion
5.603 AU
Longitude of ascending node
159.2°
Argument of periapsis
244.6°
Epoch · J2000
2451149.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 941.1 LD
2.4182 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.953

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
48
Data arc
92 days
First observed
14 October 1998
Last observed
14 January 1999
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
11.3
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 10
11.3

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1998 VS24

Named

Close approaches 3 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2040-08-04 12:31:00 Jupiter 0.0826 AU 32.1 LD 4.9 km/s
2040-08-04 12:31:00 Juptr 0.0826 AU 32.1 LD 4.9 km/s

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

Sources