Comet 252P/LINEAR
Comet 252P/LINEAR Position
Comet 252P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Pisces. The current Right Ascension is 00h 46m 39s and the Declination is +03° 26’ 47”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet 252P/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 252P/LINEAR is right now (view fullscreen)
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
The distance of Comet 252P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 742,396,460 kilometers, equivalent to 4.962614 Astronomical Units. Light takes 41 minutes and 16.3680 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 0.03573473 Astronomical Units, or 5,345,839 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 27.78.
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 10 May 2016 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457519.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.67309672 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 10.42231321° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.99605761 AU 149,008,097 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
5.09784036 AU 762,626,065 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
3.04694898 AU 455,817,081 km |
| Orbital period | period |
5.3200 years 1,942.6573 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2016-Mar-15 06:21:57 2,457,462.7652 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2021-Jul-09 22:08 2,459,405.4226 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 343.31102191035° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 190.94990321975° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 10.513697048233° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.18531318°/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Feb 17 | 00h 41m 00s | +02° 54’ 36” | 27.79 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 18 | 00h 41m 45s | +02° 58’ 51” | 27.79 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 19 | 00h 42m 32s | +03° 03’ 10” | 27.79 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 20 | 00h 43m 17s | +03° 07’ 31” | 27.79 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 21 | 00h 44m 03s | +03° 11’ 53” | 27.79 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 22 | 00h 44m 49s | +03° 16’ 18” | 27.78 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 23 | 00h 45m 37s | +03° 20’ 45” | 27.78 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 24 | 00h 46m 23s | +03° 25’ 14” | 27.78 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 25 | 00h 47m 11s | +03° 29’ 45” | 27.78 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 26 | 00h 47m 58s | +03° 34’ 18” | 27.77 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 27 | 00h 48m 47s | +03° 38’ 53” | 27.77 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 28 | 00h 49m 36s | +03° 43’ 28” | 27.77 | Pisces |
| 2020 Feb 29 | 00h 50m 25s | +03° 48’ 06” | 27.77 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 01 | 00h 51m 14s | +03° 52’ 46” | 27.76 | Pisces |