Comet 209P/LINEAR
Comet 209P/LINEAR Position
Comet 209P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Cetus. The current Right Ascension is 00h 12m 15s and the Declination is -15° 31’ 20”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 209P/LINEAR is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 209P/LINEAR is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 209P/LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 209P/LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 209P/LINEAR Distance
The distance of Comet 209P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 605,161,107 kilometers, equivalent to 4.045252 Astronomical Units. Light takes 33 minutes and 38.6002 seconds to travel from Comet 209P/LINEAR and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 209P/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.
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 209P/LINEAR from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 209P/LINEAR to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 209P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Thu May 29 2014 at a distance of 0.05555074 Astronomical Units, or 8,310,272 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 209P/LINEAR brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 209P/LINEAR is 27.36.
The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet 209P/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.
Comet 209P/LINEAR rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 209P/LINEAR rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet 209P/LINEAR touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet 209P/LINEAR Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 209P/LINEAR at epoch 20 January 2012 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455947.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.69202141 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 20.61911891° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.90284098 AU 135,063,088 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
4.96017037 AU 742,030,928 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.93150568 AU 438,547,008 km |
| Orbital period | period |
5.0200 years 1,833.3042 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2014-Apr-23 05:23:18 2,456,770.7245 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2019-Apr-30 12:41 2,458,604.0287 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 152.13065495149° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 63.608316933501° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 198.34607210401° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.19636676°/day |
Visualization of Comet 209P/LINEAR Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 209P/LINEAR with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 209P/LINEAR and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Comet 209P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 209P/LINEAR 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 209P/LINEAR computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 209P/LINEAR in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 22 | 00h 02m 26s | -16° 33’ 01” | 27.24 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 23 | 00h 03m 43s | -16° 24’ 45” | 27.25 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 24 | 00h 05m 02s | -16° 16’ 32” | 27.27 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 25 | 00h 06m 19s | -16° 08’ 24” | 27.28 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 26 | 00h 07m 36s | -16° 00’ 20” | 27.30 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 27 | 00h 08m 53s | -15° 52’ 18” | 27.32 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 28 | 00h 10m 09s | -15° 44’ 22” | 27.33 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 00h 11m 25s | -15° 36’ 29” | 27.35 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 00h 12m 41s | -15° 28’ 41” | 27.36 | Cetus |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 00h 13m 57s | -15° 20’ 57” | 27.38 | Cetus |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 00h 15m 11s | -15° 13’ 15” | 27.39 | Cetus |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 00h 16m 27s | -15° 05’ 39” | 27.41 | Cetus |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 00h 17m 40s | -14° 58’ 06” | 27.42 | Cetus |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 00h 18m 55s | -14° 50’ 39” | 27.44 | Cetus |