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public  Hamburg, Germany Hamburg, Germany  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Berlin
Sunrise: 5:17 
Transit: 13:16 
Sunset: 21:16
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Comets » 

Comet 249P/LINEAR

Above the horizon.  Rise: 6:01 | Tran: 13:58 | Set: 21:57
Alt: 26.35°   Az: 91.23°   Direction: East

Comet 249P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of 417,742,539.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 04h 20m 19s and the Declination is +20° 13’ 26” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 249P/LINEAR is 21.79 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 249P/LINEAR in Taurus on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 249P/LINEAR in Taurus on May, 17 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 249P/LINEAR is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

249P/LINEAR
RA: 04h 18m 49s
Dec: +20° 09’ 50”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 249P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

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.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

04h 20m 19s
+20° 13’ 26”
19h 09m 10s
23h 29m 29s

J2000

04h 18m 49s
+20° 09’ 50”

Additional Information

Taurus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
21.79

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 249P/LINEAR from Hamburg, Germany (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Berlin):

Azimuth: 69.8°
Max altitude: 56.7°
Azimuth: 290.3°
  • 249P/LINEAR is above the horizon from Hamburg, Germany.
  • Right now it is placed in the East direction at an altitude of 26.35° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 249P/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 249P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 417,742,539.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.7924363966 Astronomical Units. Light takes 23m 13.439s to travel from Comet 249P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

417,742,539.0
2.7924363966
23m 13.439s

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.

Chart of the distance of Comet 249P/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 249P/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 249P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Thu Apr 23 2076 at a distance of 0.050799 Astronomical Units, or 7,599,441 kilometers:

Thu Apr 23 2076
7,599,441
0.050799

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 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.

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 24 July 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 2015-Nov-26 18:53:49
2,457,353.2874 JD
Next perihelion transit 2020-Jul-06 23:29
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
2h1>Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Comet 249P/LINEAR
View Comet 249P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 May 10 04h 02m 49s +19° 41’ 05” 21.61 Taurus
2025 May 11 04h 05m 16s +19° 46’ 02” 21.63 Taurus
2025 May 12 04h 07m 42s +19° 50’ 48” 21.66 Taurus
2025 May 13 04h 10m 08s +19° 55’ 25” 21.68 Taurus
2025 May 14 04h 12m 32s +19° 59’ 53” 21.71 Taurus
2025 May 15 04h 14m 55s +20° 04’ 10” 21.73 Taurus
2025 May 16 04h 17m 17s +20° 08’ 17” 21.75 Taurus
2025 May 17 04h 19m 37s +20° 12’ 16” 21.78 Taurus
2025 May 18 04h 21m 57s +20° 16’ 06” 21.80 Taurus
2025 May 19 04h 24m 15s +20° 19’ 46” 21.83 Taurus
2025 May 20 04h 26m 33s +20° 23’ 18” 21.85 Taurus
2025 May 21 04h 28m 49s +20° 26’ 41” 21.87 Taurus
2025 May 22 04h 31m 05s +20° 29’ 56” 21.89 Taurus
2025 May 23 04h 33m 19s +20° 33’ 03” 21.92 Taurus

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