Comet 217P/LINEAR

Comet 217P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Leo. The current Right Ascension of Comet 217P/LINEAR is 11h 58m 11s and the Declination is +10° 40’ 08” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 217P/LINEAR is 24.00 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 217P/LINEAR [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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.

Additional information about Comet 217P/LINEAR available on TheSkyLive:

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?)
• Rise and set times (see also 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 1,071,845,685 kilometers, equivalent to 7.164846 Astronomical Units. Light takes 59 minutes and 35.2924 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 24.00.

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

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.

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
2020 Jul 31	11h 54m 47s	+11° 07’ 17”	24.00	Leo
2020 Aug 01	11h 55m 14s	+11° 03’ 32”	24.00	Leo
2020 Aug 02	11h 55m 42s	+10° 59’ 47”	24.00	Leo
2020 Aug 03	11h 56m 11s	+10° 56’ 00”	24.00	Leo
2020 Aug 04	11h 56m 39s	+10° 52’ 14”	24.00	Leo
2020 Aug 05	11h 57m 07s	+10° 48’ 25”	24.00	Leo
2020 Aug 06	11h 57m 37s	+10° 44’ 38”	24.00	Leo
2020 Aug 07	11h 58m 05s	+10° 40’ 49”	24.00	Leo
2020 Aug 08	11h 58m 36s	+10° 37’ 00”	24.00	Virgo
2020 Aug 09	11h 59m 04s	+10° 33’ 09”	24.00	Virgo
2020 Aug 10	11h 59m 35s	+10° 29’ 18”	24.00	Virgo
2020 Aug 11	12h 00m 05s	+10° 25’ 27”	24.00	Virgo
2020 Aug 12	12h 00m 35s	+10° 21’ 35”	24.00	Virgo
2020 Aug 13	12h 01m 05s	+10° 17’ 44”	24.00	Virgo