We use cookies to deliver essential features and to measure their performance. Learn more.
Help us keep TheSkyLive 100% free & ads-free, donate now!
Home
Search Objects
Major Solar System Objects
Comets
Asteroids
Spacecrafts
Star Maps
Orbits
public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 7:14 
Transit: 12:14 
Sunset: 17:14
sleep   (Nighttime)  
What's Visible Now • Tonight Timeline
Search  close
Comets » 

Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR

Below the horizon.  Rise: 2:58 | Tran: 6:23 | Set: 9:48
Alt: -22.70°   Az: 104.28°   Direction: East-South-East

Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR is in the constellation of Scorpius, at a distance of 781,492,952.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 16h 05m 35s and the Declination is -26° 20’ 16” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR is 22.54 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR in Scorpius on February, 15 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR in Scorpius on February, 15 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

156P/Russell-LINEAR
RA: 16h 04m 03s
Dec: -26° 16’ 14”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

16h 05m 35s
-26° 20’ 16”
17h 44m 03s
09h 49m 38s

J2000

16h 04m 03s
-26° 16’ 14”

Additional Information

Scorpius
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.54

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 116.3°
Max altitude: 12.2°
Azimuth: 243.6°
  • 156P/Russell-LINEAR is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 156P/Russell-LINEAR is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR from Earth is currently 781,492,952.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.2239577231 Astronomical Units. Light takes 43m 26.780s to travel from Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR and arrive to us.

781,492,952.0
5.2239577231
43m 26.780s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 156P/Russell-LINEAR from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR to Earth happens on Thu Oct 29 2099 at a distance of 0.380005 Astronomical Units, or 56,847,889 kilometers:

Thu Oct 29 2099
56,847,889
0.380005

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR at epoch 27 March 2020 00:00 UTC (JD: 2458936.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.61490849
Orbit inclination i 17.26328933°
Perihelion distance q 1.33312151 AU
199,432,140 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.59053935 AU
836,332,785 km
Semi-major axis a 3.46183043 AU
517,882,463 km
Orbital period period 6.4412 years
2,352.6489 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2020-Nov-17 19:55:55
2,459,171.3305 JD
Next perihelion transit 2027-Apr-28 11:30
2,461,523.9794 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 0.381717897806°
Longitude of the ascending node node 35.394354727285°
Mean anomaly M 324.06646888291°
Mean motion n 0.15301901°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR
View Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2025 Feb 08 16h 02m 55s -25° 59’ 57” 22.61 Scorpius
2025 Feb 09 16h 03m 20s -26° 02’ 54” 22.60 Scorpius
2025 Feb 10 16h 03m 44s -26° 05’ 51” 22.59 Scorpius
2025 Feb 11 16h 04m 07s -26° 08’ 45” 22.58 Scorpius
2025 Feb 12 16h 04m 30s -26° 11’ 39” 22.57 Scorpius
2025 Feb 13 16h 04m 52s -26° 14’ 33” 22.56 Scorpius
2025 Feb 14 16h 05m 13s -26° 17’ 24” 22.55 Scorpius
2025 Feb 15 16h 05m 34s -26° 20’ 15” 22.54 Scorpius
2025 Feb 16 16h 05m 54s -26° 23’ 05” 22.53 Scorpius
2025 Feb 17 16h 06m 13s -26° 25’ 54” 22.52 Scorpius
2025 Feb 18 16h 06m 33s -26° 28’ 41” 22.51 Scorpius
2025 Feb 19 16h 06m 51s -26° 31’ 28” 22.50 Scorpius
2025 Feb 20 16h 07m 08s -26° 34’ 13” 22.50 Scorpius
2025 Feb 21 16h 07m 24s -26° 36’ 58” 22.49 Scorpius

Additional Resources