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Comets » 

Comet 237P/LINEAR

Above the horizon.  Rise: 8:58 | Tran: 16:28 | Set: 0:02
Alt: 23.57°   Az: 268.73°   Direction: West

Comet 237P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Aries, at a distance of 670,444,098.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 02h 16m 42s and the Declination is +17° 27’ 54” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 237P/LINEAR is 24.35 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 237P/LINEAR in Aries on February, 16 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 237P/LINEAR in Aries on February, 16 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 237P/LINEAR is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

237P/LINEAR
RA: 02h 15m 19s
Dec: +17° 20’ 56”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 237P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 237P/LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 237P/LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

02h 16m 42s
+17° 27’ 54”
04h 55m 29s
07h 12m 12s

J2000

02h 15m 19s
+17° 20’ 56”

Additional Information

Aries
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
24.35

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 237P/LINEAR from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 72.5°
Max altitude: 56.0°
Azimuth: 287.4°
  • 237P/LINEAR is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the West direction at an altitude of 23.57° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 237P/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 237P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 670,444,098.0 kilometers, equivalent to 4.4816419837 Astronomical Units. Light takes 37m 16.361s to travel from Comet 237P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

670,444,098.0
4.4816419837
37m 16.361s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 237P/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 237P/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 237P/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 237P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Sat Jun 10 2056 at a distance of 1.028358 Astronomical Units, or 153,840,157 kilometers:

Sat Jun 10 2056
153,840,157
1.028358

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 237P/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 237P/LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 237P/LINEAR at epoch 13 December 2021 00:00 UTC (JD: 2459562.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.43436184
Orbit inclination i 14.01460564°
Perihelion distance q 1.98667831 AU
297,202,845 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.03787715 AU
753,655,696 km
Semi-major axis a 3.51227773 AU
525,429,271 km
Orbital period period 6.5825 years
2,404.2615 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2023-May-14 13:58:45
2,460,079.0825 JD
Next perihelion transit 2029-Dec-12 20:15
2,462,483.3440 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 25.235960630624°
Longitude of the ascending node node 245.37838433426°
Mean anomaly M 282.64997356293°
Mean motion n 0.14973413°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 237P/LINEAR
View Comet 237P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 237P/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 Feb 09 02h 11m 23s +17° 17’ 51” 24.23 Aries
2025 Feb 10 02h 12m 01s +17° 18’ 55” 24.24 Aries
2025 Feb 11 02h 12m 40s +17° 20’ 02” 24.26 Aries
2025 Feb 12 02h 13m 20s +17° 21’ 14” 24.27 Aries
2025 Feb 13 02h 14m 00s +17° 22’ 29” 24.29 Aries
2025 Feb 14 02h 14m 41s +17° 23’ 47” 24.30 Aries
2025 Feb 15 02h 15m 23s +17° 25’ 09” 24.32 Aries
2025 Feb 16 02h 16m 05s +17° 26’ 34” 24.34 Aries
2025 Feb 17 02h 16m 47s +17° 28’ 04” 24.35 Aries
2025 Feb 18 02h 17m 30s +17° 29’ 36” 24.37 Aries
2025 Feb 19 02h 18m 13s +17° 31’ 10” 24.38 Aries
2025 Feb 20 02h 18m 57s +17° 32’ 49” 24.40 Aries
2025 Feb 21 02h 19m 41s +17° 34’ 30” 24.41 Aries
2025 Feb 22 02h 20m 26s +17° 36’ 14” 24.42 Aries

Additional Resources