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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:59 
Transit: 13:05 
Sunset: 21:11
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Comet 230P/LINEAR

Below the horizon.  Rise: 15:51 | Tran: 21:13 | Set: 2:39
Alt: -45.58°   Az: 356.19°   Direction: North

Comet 230P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Libra, at a distance of 705,786,201.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 15h 41m 11s and the Declination is -07° 07’ 10” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 230P/LINEAR, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 22.60.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 230P/LINEAR in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 230P/LINEAR in the constellation of Libra on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 230P/LINEAR in the constellation of Libra on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 230P/LINEAR against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

230P/LINEAR
RA: 15h 39m 49s
Dec: -07° 02’ 17”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 230P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

15h 41m 11s
-07° 07’ 10”
11h 49m 16s
03h 30m 27s

J2000

15h 39m 49s
-07° 02’ 17”

Additional Information

Libra
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.60

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

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 230P/LINEAR from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 97.1°
Max altitude: 31.4°
Azimuth: 262.9°

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 230P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 705,786,201.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.7178893503 Astronomical Units. Light takes 39m 14.249s to travel from comet 230P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

705,786,201.0
4.7178893503
39m 14.249s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 230P/LINEAR from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 230P/LINEAR from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 230P/LINEAR from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 230P/LINEAR to Earth happened on Saturday 5 December 2015 at a distance of 0.547771 Astronomical Units, or 81,945,380 kilometers:

Saturday 5 December 2015
81,945,380
0.547771

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

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 230P/LINEAR, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 230P/LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 230P/LINEAR at epoch June, 29 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457203.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.56311578
Orbit inclination i 14.65305272°
Perihelion distance q 1.48529093 AU
222,196,361 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.31418069 AU
794,990,117 km
Semi-major axis a 3.39973581 AU
508,593,239 km
Orbital period period 6.2687 years
2,289.6346 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp November 18, 2015
2,457,344.5653 JD
Next perihelion transit February 23, 2022
2,459,634.1999 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 308.91291272124°
Longitude of the ascending node node 112.39658169462°
Mean anomaly M 337.82025605544°
Mean motion n 0.15723033°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 230P/LINEAR relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet 230P/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
Jul 06 2025 15h 43m 23s -06° 54’ 28” 22.56 Libra
Jul 07 2025 15h 43m 03s -06° 56’ 02” 22.57 Libra
Jul 08 2025 15h 42m 43s -06° 57’ 39” 22.57 Libra
Jul 09 2025 15h 42m 24s -06° 59’ 18” 22.58 Libra
Jul 10 2025 15h 42m 06s -07° 01’ 02” 22.59 Libra
Jul 11 2025 15h 41m 49s -07° 02’ 48” 22.59 Libra
Jul 12 2025 15h 41m 32s -07° 04’ 39” 22.60 Libra
Jul 13 2025 15h 41m 16s -07° 06’ 31” 22.60 Libra
Jul 14 2025 15h 41m 01s -07° 08’ 28” 22.61 Libra
Jul 15 2025 15h 40m 48s -07° 10’ 27” 22.61 Libra
Jul 16 2025 15h 40m 34s -07° 12’ 29” 22.62 Libra
Jul 17 2025 15h 40m 21s -07° 14’ 35” 22.63 Libra
Jul 18 2025 15h 40m 09s -07° 16’ 42” 22.63 Libra
Jul 19 2025 15h 39m 57s -07° 18’ 54” 22.64 Libra

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