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public  Castelmoron-sur-Lot, France Castelmoron-sur-Lot, France  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Paris
Sunrise: 6:19 
Transit: 14:02 
Sunset: 21:44
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Comets » 

Comet 249P/LINEAR

Above the horizon.  Rise: 5:40 | Tran: 13:07 | Set: 20:33
Alt: 36.42°   Az: 95.53°   Direction: East

Comet 249P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Orion, at a distance of 491,232,311.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 05h 51m 48s and the Declination is +21° 05’ 50” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 249P/LINEAR, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 22.61).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 249P/LINEAR in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 249P/LINEAR in the constellation of Orion on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 249P/LINEAR in the constellation of Orion 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 249P/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.

249P/LINEAR
RA: 05h 50m 17s
Dec: +21° 05’ 30”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 249P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

05h 51m 48s
+21° 05’ 50”
20h 03m 23s
01h 55m 12s

J2000

05h 50m 17s
+21° 05’ 30”

Additional Information

Orion
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.61

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 249P/LINEAR from Castelmoron-sur-Lot, France (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Paris):

Azimuth: 68.9°
Max altitude: 66.7°
Azimuth: 291.1°

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 249P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 491,232,311.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.2836851802 Astronomical Units. Light takes 27m 18.575s to travel from comet 249P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

491,232,311.0
3.2836851802
27m 18.575s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 249P/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 249P/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 249P/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 249P/LINEAR to Earth will happen on Thursday 23 April 2076 at a distance of 0.050799 Astronomical Units, or 7,599,441 kilometers:

Thursday 23 April 2076
7,599,441
0.050799

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 249P/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 249P/LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 249P/LINEAR at epoch July, 24 2014 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456863.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.81866843
Orbit inclination i 8.39934386°
Perihelion distance q 0.50234501 AU
75,149,744 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.03827893 AU
753,715,801 km
Semi-major axis a 2.77031197 AU
414,432,772 km
Orbital period period 4.6111 years
1,684.1914 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp November 26, 2015
2,457,353.2874 JD
Next perihelion transit July 6, 2020
2,459,037.4788 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 64.810357708193°
Longitude of the ascending node node 239.85204448666°
Mean anomaly M 255.30675821623°
Mean motion n 0.21375243°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 249P/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 249P/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
Jun 25 2025 05h 39m 08s +21° 10’ 59” 22.51 Taurus
Jun 26 2025 05h 40m 55s +21° 10’ 31” 22.53 Taurus
Jun 27 2025 05h 42m 40s +21° 09’ 58” 22.54 Taurus
Jun 28 2025 05h 44m 25s +21° 09’ 22” 22.56 Taurus
Jun 29 2025 05h 46m 09s +21° 08’ 40” 22.57 Taurus
Jun 30 2025 05h 47m 53s +21° 07’ 53” 22.58 Taurus
Jul 01 2025 05h 49m 36s +21° 07’ 02” 22.60 Taurus
Jul 02 2025 05h 51m 18s +21° 06’ 07” 22.61 Orion
Jul 03 2025 05h 52m 59s +21° 05’ 08” 22.62 Orion
Jul 04 2025 05h 54m 40s +21° 04’ 05” 22.63 Orion
Jul 05 2025 05h 56m 19s +21° 02’ 57” 22.65 Orion
Jul 06 2025 05h 57m 59s +21° 01’ 45” 22.66 Orion
Jul 07 2025 05h 59m 37s +21° 00’ 30” 22.67 Orion
Jul 08 2025 06h 01m 15s +20° 59’ 11” 22.68 Orion

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