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🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:01  ☀️ Transit: 12:06  🌅 Sunset: 18:11

Comet 237P/LINEAR

Comet 237P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius. The current Right Ascension of Comet 237P/LINEAR is 18h 31m 08s and the Declination is -22° 30’ 53” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 237P/LINEAR is 14.92 (JPL).

18h 31m 08s
-22° 30’ 53”
Sagittarius
14.92

Today's rise, transit and set times of Comet 237P/LINEAR from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 112.6°
Max altitude: 16.0°
Azimuth: 247.5°
  • 237P/LINEAR is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Given its current magnitude, 237P/LINEAR is visible with the help of a telescope havng an aperture of 20 inches (500mm) or more.
  • 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.

Available Resources

Comet 237P/LINEAR Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Comet 237P/LINEAR finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Map showing Comet 237P/LINEAR in Sagittarius on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Comet 237P/LINEAR in Sagittarius on March, 21 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

Higher 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: 18h 31m 08s
Dec: -22° 30’ 53”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 237P/LINEAR
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

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.

Comet 237P/LINEAR Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 237P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 283,526,840 kilometers, equivalent to 1.895260 Astronomical Units. Light takes 15 minutes and 45.7437 seconds to travel from Comet 237P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

283,526,840
1.895260
15 minutes and 45.7437 seconds

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 of Comet 237P/LINEAR to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 237P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Sat Jun 10 2056 at a distance of 1.028164 Astronomical Units, or 153,811,159 kilometers:

Sat Jun 10 2056
153,811,159
1.028164

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

Comet 237P/LINEAR Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 237P/LINEAR is 14.92.

14.92
-
-

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 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

Comet 237P/LINEAR Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 237P/LINEAR at epoch 25 May 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457534.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.43450304
Orbit inclination i 14.02245859°
Perihelion distance q 1.98489178 AU
296,935,584 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.03509919 AU
753,240,119 km
Semi-major axis a 3.50999548 AU
525,087,851 km
Orbital period period 6.5761 years
2,401.9185 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2016-Oct-11 15:27:44
2,457,673.1443 JD
Next perihelion transit 2023-May-10 13:30
2,460,075.0627 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 25.028605852421°
Longitude of the ascending node node 245.43400072°
Mean anomaly M 339.21997141319°
Mean motion n 0.14988019°/day

Visualization of Comet 237P/LINEAR Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 237P/LINEAR with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 237P/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!

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

Comet 237P/LINEAR 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 237P/LINEAR in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 14 18h 15m 48s -23° 26’ 35” 15.10 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 15 18h 17m 53s -23° 19’ 47” 15.08 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 16 18h 19m 55s -23° 12’ 50” 15.05 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 17 18h 21m 57s -23° 05’ 41” 15.03 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 18 18h 23m 59s -22° 58’ 23” 15.01 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 19 18h 25m 59s -22° 50’ 54” 14.98 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 20 18h 28m 00s -22° 43’ 17” 14.96 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 21 18h 29m 58s -22° 35’ 27” 14.93 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 22 18h 31m 58s -22° 27’ 29” 14.91 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 23 18h 33m 55s -22° 19’ 21” 14.89 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 24 18h 35m 52s -22° 11’ 03” 14.86 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 25 18h 37m 47s -22° 02’ 35” 14.84 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 26 18h 39m 42s -21° 53’ 57” 14.82 Sagittarius
2023 Mar 27 18h 41m 36s -21° 45’ 11” 14.79 Sagittarius