Comet 217P/LINEAR
Comet 217P/LINEAR Position
Comet 217P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Virgo. The current Right Ascension is 12h 15m 42s and the Declination is +10° 58’ 48”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 217P/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
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 217P/LINEAR is right now (view fullscreen)
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.
Comet 217P/LINEAR Distance
The distance of Comet 217P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 782,173,984 kilometers, equivalent to 5.228510 Astronomical Units. Light takes 43 minutes and 29.0516 seconds to travel from Comet 217P/LINEAR and arrive to us.
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.
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 of Comet 217P/LINEAR to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 217P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Tue Sep 8 2048 at a distance of 0.39623986 Astronomical Units, or 59,276,639 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 217P/LINEAR brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 217P/LINEAR is 23.00.
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 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.
Comet 217P/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 217P/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 217P/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 217P/LINEAR Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 217P/LINEAR at epoch 04 August 2010 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455413.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.68961244 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 12.88038542° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 1.22423456 AU 183,142,884 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
6.66419081 AU 996,948,757 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.94421268 AU 590,045,820 km |
| Orbital period | period |
7.8300 years 2,861.1387 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2009-Sep-08 23:38:08 2,455,083.4848 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2017-Jul-10 02:57 2,457,944.6235 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 246.7641713336° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 125.62090728776° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 41.523839812298° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.12582403°/day |
Visualization of Comet 217P/LINEAR Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 217P/LINEAR with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 217P/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 217P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 217P/LINEAR 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 217P/LINEAR in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Feb 17 | 12h 18m 48s | +10° 27’ 18” | 23.01 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 18 | 12h 18m 24s | +10° 31’ 32” | 23.01 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 19 | 12h 18m 00s | +10° 35’ 48” | 23.01 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 20 | 12h 17m 35s | +10° 40’ 05” | 23.01 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 21 | 12h 17m 09s | +10° 44’ 24” | 23.01 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 22 | 12h 16m 45s | +10° 48’ 42” | 23.01 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 23 | 12h 16m 18s | +10° 53’ 02” | 23.00 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 24 | 12h 15m 51s | +10° 57’ 21” | 23.00 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 25 | 12h 15m 24s | +11° 01’ 41” | 23.00 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 26 | 12h 14m 57s | +11° 06’ 02” | 23.00 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 27 | 12h 14m 29s | +11° 10’ 23” | 23.00 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 28 | 12h 14m 00s | +11° 14’ 44” | 23.00 | Virgo |
| 2020 Feb 29 | 12h 13m 32s | +11° 19’ 04” | 23.00 | Virgo |
| 2020 Mar 01 | 12h 13m 02s | +11° 23’ 24” | 23.00 | Virgo |