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public  Violay, France Violay, France  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Paris
Sunrise: 5:59 
Transit: 13:47 
Sunset: 21:34
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Comets » 

Comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT

Below the horizon.  Rise: 20:05 | Tran: 0:32 | Set: 5:04
Alt: -27.16°   Az: 92.31°   Direction: East

Comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT is in the constellation of Ophiuchus, at a distance of 621,625,198.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 17h 42m 56s and the Declination is -20° 38’ 42” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 23.72).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT in the constellation of Ophiuchus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT in the constellation of Ophiuchus on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

204P/LINEAR-NEAT
RA: 17h 41m 24s
Dec: -20° 38’ 03”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

17h 42m 56s
-20° 38’ 42”
16h 47m 12s
10h 30m 08s

J2000

17h 41m 24s
-20° 38’ 03”

Additional Information

Ophiuchus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.72

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT from Violay, France (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Paris):

Azimuth: 110.6°
Max altitude: 23.5°
Azimuth: 249.4°

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 204P/LINEAR-NEAT from Earth is currently 621,625,198.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.1553077934 Astronomical Units. Light takes 34m 33.518s to travel from comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT and arrive to us.

621,625,198.0
4.1553077934
34m 33.518s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 204P/LINEAR-NEAT from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT to Earth happened on Monday 18 January 2016 at a distance of 0.976006 Astronomical Units, or 146,008,396 kilometers:

Monday 18 January 2016
146,008,396
0.976006

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT at epoch November, 27 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456989.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.47217310
Orbit inclination i 6.58885931°
Perihelion distance q 1.92992845 AU
288,713,188 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.38280396 AU
805,256,013 km
Semi-major axis a 3.65636621 AU
546,984,600 km
Orbital period period 6.9917 years
2,553.7181 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp December 11, 2015
2,457,368.0316 JD
Next perihelion transit December 8, 2022
2,459,921.7497 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 355.04771051761°
Longitude of the ascending node node 109.07289485234°
Mean anomaly M 306.63804632106°
Mean motion n 0.14097092°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT 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
Jun 27 2025 17h 47m 53s -20° 35’ 30” 23.70 Sagittarius
Jun 28 2025 17h 47m 13s -20° 35’ 55” 23.70 Sagittarius
Jun 29 2025 17h 46m 34s -20° 36’ 20” 23.70 Sagittarius
Jun 30 2025 17h 45m 54s -20° 36’ 45” 23.71 Sagittarius
Jul 01 2025 17h 45m 15s -20° 37’ 10” 23.71 Sagittarius
Jul 02 2025 17h 44m 37s -20° 37’ 35” 23.71 Ophiuchus
Jul 03 2025 17h 43m 58s -20° 38’ 00” 23.72 Ophiuchus
Jul 04 2025 17h 43m 20s -20° 38’ 26” 23.72 Ophiuchus
Jul 05 2025 17h 42m 42s -20° 38’ 52” 23.72 Ophiuchus
Jul 06 2025 17h 42m 05s -20° 39’ 17” 23.73 Ophiuchus
Jul 07 2025 17h 41m 28s -20° 39’ 44” 23.73 Ophiuchus
Jul 08 2025 17h 40m 52s -20° 40’ 10” 23.74 Ophiuchus
Jul 09 2025 17h 40m 16s -20° 40’ 36” 23.74 Ophiuchus
Jul 10 2025 17h 39m 41s -20° 41’ 03” 23.75 Ophiuchus

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