Comet 249P/LINEAR
Comet 249P/LINEAR Position
Comet 249P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Sextans. The current Right Ascension is 10h 25m 33s and the Declination is -08° 22’ 53”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 249P/LINEAR is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet 249P/LINEAR is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet 249P/LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 249P/LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet 249P/LINEAR Distance
The distance of Comet 249P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 92,582,932 kilometers, equivalent to 0.618879 Astronomical Units. Light takes 5 minutes and 8.8234 seconds to travel from Comet 249P/LINEAR and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet 249P/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 249P/LINEAR from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet 249P/LINEAR to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet 249P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Thu Apr 23 2076 at a distance of 0.05031757 Astronomical Units, or 7,527,402 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 249P/LINEAR brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 249P/LINEAR is 17.48.
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 249P/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 249P/LINEAR rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet 249P/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 249P/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.
Comet 249P/LINEAR Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 249P/LINEAR at epoch 01 August 2008 00:00 UTC (JD: 2454680.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.81628155 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 8.43036161° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.51031390 AU 76,341,873 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.04507711 AU 754,732,795 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.77769551 AU 415,537,334 km |
| Orbital period | period |
4.6300 years 1,690.9290 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2006-Aug-28 16:39:52 2,453,976.1944 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2011-Apr-15 14:57 2,455,667.1234 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 64.076340091941° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 240.61508210483° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 149.94717496093° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.21290071°/day |
Visualization of Comet 249P/LINEAR Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 249P/LINEAR with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 249P/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!
View Comet 249P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 249P/LINEAR 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 249P/LINEAR computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 249P/LINEAR in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Apr 01 | 10h 49m 23s | -11° 06’ 15” | 17.79 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 10h 46m 27s | -10° 47’ 44” | 17.75 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 10h 43m 27s | -10° 28’ 35” | 17.71 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 10h 40m 28s | -10° 08’ 48” | 17.67 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 05 | 10h 37m 27s | -09° 48’ 24” | 17.63 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 06 | 10h 34m 27s | -09° 27’ 24” | 17.59 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 07 | 10h 31m 24s | -09° 05’ 52” | 17.55 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 08 | 10h 28m 22s | -08° 43’ 45” | 17.52 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 09 | 10h 25m 18s | -08° 21’ 06” | 17.48 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 10 | 10h 22m 15s | -07° 57’ 56” | 17.44 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 11 | 10h 19m 12s | -07° 34’ 18” | 17.40 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 12 | 10h 16m 09s | -07° 10’ 11” | 17.37 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 13 | 10h 13m 06s | -06° 45’ 38” | 17.33 | Sextans |
| 2020 Apr 14 | 10h 10m 05s | -06° 20’ 41” | 17.29 | Sextans |