Latest Comet 252P/LINEAR
Comet 252P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Taurus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 252P/LINEAR is 05h 38m 37s and the Declination is +16° 44’ 55” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 252P/LINEAR is 19.85 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about Comet 252P/LINEAR [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- 252P/LINEAR is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the East-South-East direction at an altitude of 38° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, 252P/LINEAR is visible only through long exposure photography.
- See also 252P/LINEAR rise and set times.
- 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.
Additional information about Comet 252P/LINEAR available on TheSkyLive:
Comet 252P/LINEAR Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide Comet 252P/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.
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Higher 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.
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.
Comet 252P/LINEAR Distance from Earth
The distance of Comet 252P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 299,221,561 kilometers, equivalent to 2.000173 Astronomical Units. Light takes 16 minutes and 38.0957 seconds to travel from Comet 252P/LINEAR and arrive to us.
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.
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 of Comet 252P/LINEAR to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 252P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Tue Mar 22 2016 at a distance of 0.035735 Astronomical Units, or 5,345,840 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet 252P/LINEAR brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet 252P/LINEAR is 19.85.
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 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.
Comet 252P/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 252P/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 252P/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 252P/LINEAR Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 252P/LINEAR at epoch 12 May 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457521.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.67310230 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 10.42235707° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.99605632 AU 149,007,904 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.09793777 AU 762,640,637 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.04699704 AU 455,824,271 km |
| Orbital period | period |
5.3200 years 1,942.7033 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2016-Mar-15 06:21:50 2,457,462.7652 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2021-Jul-09 23:14 2,459,405.4685 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 343.31089744219° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 190.94987873102° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 10.88408111266° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.18530879°/day |
Visualization of Comet 252P/LINEAR Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 252P/LINEAR with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 252P/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 252P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet 252P/LINEAR 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. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 252P/LINEAR in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 May 05 | 05h 16m 01s | +16° 10’ 27” | 20.11 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 06 | 05h 18m 57s | +16° 15’ 34” | 20.08 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 07 | 05h 21m 56s | +16° 20’ 33” | 20.04 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 08 | 05h 24m 55s | +16° 25’ 23” | 20.01 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 09 | 05h 27m 56s | +16° 30’ 02” | 19.97 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 10 | 05h 31m 00s | +16° 34’ 33” | 19.93 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 11 | 05h 34m 04s | +16° 38’ 54” | 19.90 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 12 | 05h 37m 10s | +16° 43’ 05” | 19.86 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 13 | 05h 40m 18s | +16° 47’ 07” | 19.83 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 14 | 05h 43m 28s | +16° 50’ 57” | 19.79 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 15 | 05h 46m 40s | +16° 54’ 34” | 19.75 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 16 | 05h 49m 53s | +16° 58’ 03” | 19.72 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 17 | 05h 53m 08s | +17° 01’ 18” | 19.68 | Taurus |
| 2021 May 18 | 05h 56m 25s | +17° 04’ 22” | 19.65 | Orion |