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Comets » 

Comet 252P/LINEAR

Below the horizon.  Rise: 8:28 | Tran: 14:35 | Set: 20:42
Alt: -17.08°   Az: 63.99°   Direction: East-North-East

Comet 252P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 804,321,906.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 00h 18m 34s and the Declination is +01° 47’ 25” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 252P/LINEAR is 31.05 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 252P/LINEAR in Pisces on February, 15 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 252P/LINEAR in Pisces on February, 15 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 252P/LINEAR is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

252P/LINEAR
RA: 00h 17m 16s
Dec: +01° 39’ 03”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 252P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 252P/LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 252P/LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

00h 18m 34s
+01° 47’ 25”
15h 57m 02s
16h 15m 36s

J2000

00h 17m 16s
+01° 39’ 03”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
31.05

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 252P/LINEAR from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 88.2°
Max altitude: 40.3°
Azimuth: 271.8°
  • 252P/LINEAR is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Given its current magnitude, 252P/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 252P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 804,321,906.0 kilometers, equivalent to 5.3765598550 Astronomical Units. Light takes 44m 42.929s to travel from Comet 252P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

804,321,906.0
5.3765598550
44m 42.929s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 252P/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 252P/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 252P/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 252P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Tue Mar 22 2016 at a distance of 0.035735 Astronomical Units, or 5,345,817 kilometers:

Tue Mar 22 2016
5,345,817
0.035735

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 252P/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 252P/LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 252P/LINEAR at epoch 12 June 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457552.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.67308502
Orbit inclination i 10.42219597°
Perihelion distance q 0.99604590 AU
149,006,346 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.09756221 AU
762,584,455 km
Semi-major axis a 3.04680406 AU
455,795,400 km
Orbital period period 5.3183 years
1,942.5187 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2016-Mar-15 06:19:30
2,457,462.7635 JD
Next perihelion transit 2021-Jul-09 18:46
2,459,405.2823 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 343.31047464389°
Longitude of the ascending node node 190.94849576985°
Mean anomaly M 16.630533941618°
Mean motion n 0.18532640°/day

Orbit Visualization

Orbit Diagram of Comet 252P/LINEAR
View Comet 252P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 252P/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 08 00h 13m 30s +01° 18’ 56” 31.06 Pisces
2025 Feb 09 00h 14m 11s +01° 22’ 44” 31.06 Pisces
2025 Feb 10 00h 14m 52s +01° 26’ 34” 31.06 Pisces
2025 Feb 11 00h 15m 33s +01° 30’ 27” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 12 00h 16m 15s +01° 34’ 22” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 13 00h 16m 57s +01° 38’ 18” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 14 00h 17m 39s +01° 42’ 17” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 15 00h 18m 22s +01° 46’ 18” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 16 00h 19m 05s +01° 50’ 22” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 17 00h 19m 48s +01° 54’ 27” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 18 00h 20m 31s +01° 58’ 34” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 19 00h 21m 15s +02° 02’ 44” 31.05 Pisces
2025 Feb 20 00h 21m 59s +02° 06’ 55” 31.04 Pisces
2025 Feb 21 00h 22m 44s +02° 11’ 07” 31.04 Pisces

Additional Resources