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public  Nuuk, Greenland Nuuk, Greenland  ⓘ
TimezoneAmerica/Godthab
Sunrise: 3:55 
Transit: 14:28 
Sunset: 1:02
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Comets » 

Comet 217P/LINEAR

Above the horizon.  Rise: 4:42 | Tran: 12:30 | Set: 20:20
Alt: 35.01°   Az: 146.52°   Direction: South

Comet 217P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 306,927,110.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 03m 42s and the Declination is +12° 38’ 32” (apparent coordinates). The latest observed magnitude of Comet 217P/LINEAR is 12.8 (data provided by COBS).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 217P/LINEAR in Taurus on June, 21 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 217P/LINEAR in Taurus on June, 21 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 217P/LINEAR is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

217P/LINEAR
RA: 04h 02m 17s
Dec: +12° 34’ 22”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 217P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 217P/LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 217P/LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 03m 42s
+12° 38’ 32”
22h 09m 40s
02h 13m 22s

J2000

04h 02m 17s
+12° 34’ 22”

Additional Information

Taurus
12.8
1.0'
n/a
2025-06-19
16.15

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 217P/LINEAR from Nuuk, Greenland (all times relative to the local timezone America/Godthab):

Azimuth: 77.4°
Max altitude: 38.5°
Azimuth: 282.7°
  • 217P/LINEAR is above the horizon from Nuuk, Greenland.
  • Right now it is placed in the South direction at an altitude of 35.01° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 217P/LINEAR is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 10 inches (250mm) or more.
  • 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 217P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 306,927,110.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.0516810070 Astronomical Units. Light takes 17m 3.799s to travel from Comet 217P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

306,927,110.0
2.0516810070
17m 3.799s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 217P/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 217P/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 217P/LINEAR from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach

Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2099, the closest approach of Comet 217P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Tue Sep 8 2048 at a distance of 0.396250 Astronomical Units, or 59,278,127 kilometers:

Tue Sep 8 2048
59,278,127
0.396250

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 217P/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 217P/LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 217P/LINEAR at epoch 31 August 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455440.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.68962028
Orbit inclination i 12.88009255°
Perihelion distance q 1.22427494 AU
183,148,924 km
Aphelion distance Q 6.66460993 AU
997,011,457 km
Semi-major axis a 3.94444243 AU
590,080,190 km
Orbital period period 7.8341 years
2,861.3887 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2009-Sep-08 23:45:20
2,455,083.4898 JD
Next perihelion transit 2017-Jul-10 09:05
2,457,944.8785 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 246.76732060005°
Longitude of the ascending node node 125.62057197143°
Mean anomaly M 44.91653396829°
Mean motion n 0.12581304°/day
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 217P/LINEAR
View Comet 217P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 217P/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 Jun 14 03h 37m 02s +11° 17’ 45” 16.08 Taurus
2025 Jun 15 03h 40m 39s +11° 29’ 20” 16.09 Taurus
2025 Jun 16 03h 44m 14s +11° 40’ 40” 16.10 Taurus
2025 Jun 17 03h 47m 48s +11° 51’ 47” 16.11 Taurus
2025 Jun 18 03h 51m 22s +12° 02’ 38” 16.12 Taurus
2025 Jun 19 03h 54m 55s +12° 13’ 14” 16.13 Taurus
2025 Jun 20 03h 58m 27s +12° 23’ 36” 16.14 Taurus
2025 Jun 21 04h 01m 59s +12° 33’ 42” 16.15 Taurus
2025 Jun 22 04h 05m 31s +12° 43’ 34” 16.16 Taurus
2025 Jun 23 04h 09m 01s +12° 53’ 10” 16.17 Taurus
2025 Jun 24 04h 12m 31s +13° 02’ 31” 16.19 Taurus
2025 Jun 25 04h 15m 59s +13° 11’ 37” 16.20 Taurus
2025 Jun 26 04h 19m 27s +13° 20’ 28” 16.21 Taurus
2025 Jun 27 04h 22m 54s +13° 29’ 04” 16.23 Taurus

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