Comet 217P/LINEAR

Comet 217P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Libra.

The current Right Ascension of Comet 217P/LINEAR is 15h 27m 33s and the Declination is -08° 03’ 09” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 217P/LINEAR is 22.13 (JPL).

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.

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 217P/LINEAR from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

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.

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 217P/LINEAR?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 217P/LINEAR from Earth?)
• When does Comet 217P/LINEAR rise and set?
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 217P/LINEAR?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 217P/LINEAR orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 217P/LINEAR with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 217P/LINEAR for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 217P/LINEAR in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 217P/LINEAR with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher 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.

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 from Earth

The distance of Comet 217P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 842,479,793 kilometers, equivalent to 5.631630 Astronomical Units. Light takes 46 minutes and 50.2101 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 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 217P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Tue Sep 8 2048 at a distance of 0.396240 Astronomical Units, or 59,276,666 kilometers:

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

Comet 217P/LINEAR Brightness and 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.

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!

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
2023 Nov 22	15h 21m 07s	-07° 39’ 05”	22.17	Libra
2023 Nov 23	15h 22m 01s	-07° 42’ 32”	22.16	Libra
2023 Nov 24	15h 22m 54s	-07° 45’ 56”	22.16	Libra
2023 Nov 25	15h 23m 48s	-07° 49’ 19”	22.15	Libra
2023 Nov 26	15h 24m 41s	-07° 52’ 40”	22.14	Libra
2023 Nov 27	15h 25m 35s	-07° 55’ 58”	22.14	Libra
2023 Nov 28	15h 26m 27s	-07° 59’ 13”	22.13	Libra
2023 Nov 29	15h 27m 21s	-08° 02’ 27”	22.13	Libra
2023 Nov 30	15h 28m 14s	-08° 05’ 39”	22.12	Libra
2023 Dec 01	15h 29m 08s	-08° 08’ 47”	22.11	Libra
2023 Dec 02	15h 30m 02s	-08° 11’ 53”	22.11	Libra
2023 Dec 03	15h 30m 56s	-08° 14’ 57”	22.10	Libra
2023 Dec 04	15h 31m 49s	-08° 17’ 58”	22.09	Libra
2023 Dec 05	15h 32m 43s	-08° 20’ 57”	22.09	Libra