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Comet 209P/LINEAR

Below the horizon.  Rise: 2:59 | Tran: 8:02 | Set: 13:06
Alt: -18.81°   Az: 84.00°   Direction: East

Comet 209P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Cetus, at a distance of 514,749,755.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 36m 55s and the Declination is -10° 52’ 21” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 209P/LINEAR, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 23.24).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 209P/LINEAR in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 209P/LINEAR in the constellation of Cetus on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 209P/LINEAR in the constellation of Cetus 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 209P/LINEAR 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.

209P/LINEAR
RA: 01h 35m 39s
Dec: -11° 00’ 08”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 209P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

01h 36m 55s
-10° 52’ 21”
16h 53m 51s
18h 30m 46s

J2000

01h 35m 39s
-11° 00’ 08”

Additional Information

Cetus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
23.24

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 209P/LINEAR from Barnstaple, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 100.9°
Max altitude: 28.1°
Azimuth: 259.1°

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 209P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 514,749,755.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.4408895835 Astronomical Units. Light takes 28m 37.020s to travel from comet 209P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

514,749,755.0
3.4408895835
28m 37.020s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 209P/LINEAR 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 209P/LINEAR 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 209P/LINEAR 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 209P/LINEAR to Earth happened on Thursday 29 May 2014 at a distance of 0.055551 Astronomical Units, or 8,310,272 kilometers:

Thursday 29 May 2014
8,310,272
0.055551

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 209P/LINEAR, 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 209P/LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 209P/LINEAR at epoch June, 08 2012 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456087.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.68144491
Orbit inclination i 21.33781492°
Perihelion distance q 0.93959006 AU
140,560,673 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.95948423 AU
741,928,282 km
Semi-major axis a 2.94953715 AU
441,244,478 km
Orbital period period 5.0657 years
1,850.2450 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp April 30, 2014
2,456,778.3447 JD
Next perihelion transit May 25, 2019
2,458,628.5897 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 152.63485855721°
Longitude of the ascending node node 62.868525317692°
Mean anomaly M 225.58314856149°
Mean motion n 0.19456883°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 209P/LINEAR 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 209P/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
Jun 27 2025 01h 32m 48s -10° 43’ 56” 23.26 Cetus
Jun 28 2025 01h 33m 22s -10° 44’ 33” 23.25 Cetus
Jun 29 2025 01h 33m 55s -10° 45’ 19” 23.25 Cetus
Jun 30 2025 01h 34m 27s -10° 46’ 11” 23.25 Cetus
Jul 01 2025 01h 34m 59s -10° 47’ 11” 23.25 Cetus
Jul 02 2025 01h 35m 29s -10° 48’ 17” 23.24 Cetus
Jul 03 2025 01h 35m 59s -10° 49’ 32” 23.24 Cetus
Jul 04 2025 01h 36m 28s -10° 50’ 53” 23.24 Cetus
Jul 05 2025 01h 36m 55s -10° 52’ 22” 23.24 Cetus
Jul 06 2025 01h 37m 22s -10° 53’ 57” 23.23 Cetus
Jul 07 2025 01h 37m 49s -10° 55’ 39” 23.23 Cetus
Jul 08 2025 01h 38m 14s -10° 57’ 29” 23.23 Cetus
Jul 09 2025 01h 38m 38s -10° 59’ 26” 23.23 Cetus
Jul 10 2025 01h 39m 01s -11° 01’ 30” 23.22 Cetus

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