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Comet 217P/LINEAR

Below the horizon.  Rise: 5:00 | Tran: 11:15 | Set: 17:30
Alt: -32.97°   Az: 337.66°   Direction: North-North-West

Comet 217P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 301,907,997.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 01h 38m 26s and the Declination is +03° 17’ 33” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 217P/LINEAR is 16.02 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 217P/LINEAR in Pisces on May, 12 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 217P/LINEAR in Pisces on May, 12 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: 01h 37m 08s
Dec: +03° 09’ 50”
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

01h 38m 26s
+03° 17’ 33”
10h 45m 28s
12h 23m 55s

J2000

01h 37m 08s
+03° 09’ 50”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
16.02

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 Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 86.9°
Max altitude: 41.7°
Azimuth: 273.2°
  • 217P/LINEAR is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 217P/LINEAR is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • 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 301,907,997.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.0181303089 Astronomical Units. Light takes 16m 47.057s to travel from Comet 217P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

301,907,997.0
2.0181303089
16m 47.057s

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

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 May 05 01h 09m 16s +00° 59’ 06” 16.08 Cetus
2025 May 06 01h 12m 58s +01° 16’ 50” 16.07 Cetus
2025 May 07 01h 16m 39s +01° 34’ 34” 16.06 Cetus
2025 May 08 01h 20m 21s +01° 52’ 13” 16.05 Cetus
2025 May 09 01h 24m 04s +02° 09’ 51” 16.04 Cetus
2025 May 10 01h 27m 46s +02° 27’ 24” 16.04 Cetus
2025 May 11 01h 31m 29s +02° 44’ 55” 16.03 Cetus
2025 May 12 01h 35m 11s +03° 02’ 21” 16.02 Pisces
2025 May 13 01h 38m 54s +03° 19’ 42” 16.02 Pisces
2025 May 14 01h 42m 37s +03° 36’ 59” 16.01 Pisces
2025 May 15 01h 46m 20s +03° 54’ 09” 16.00 Pisces
2025 May 16 01h 50m 05s +04° 11’ 14” 16.00 Pisces
2025 May 17 01h 53m 48s +04° 28’ 14” 16.00 Pisces
2025 May 18 01h 57m 31s +04° 45’ 07” 15.99 Pisces

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