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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:51 
Transit: 13:04 
Sunset: 21:17
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Comets » 

Comet 294P/LINEAR

Below the horizon.  Rise: 8:01 | Tran: 15:03 | Set: 22:05
Alt: -24.01°   Az: 20.22°   Direction: North-North-East

Comet 294P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of 317,961,062.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 08h 53m 48s and the Declination is +12° 26’ 40” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 294P/LINEAR, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 20.12).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 294P/LINEAR in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 294P/LINEAR in the constellation of Cancer on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 294P/LINEAR in the constellation of Cancer 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 294P/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.

294P/LINEAR
RA: 08h 52m 24s
Dec: +12° 32’ 30”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 294P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

08h 53m 48s
+12° 26’ 40”
13h 15m 26s
22h 09m 15s

J2000

08h 52m 24s
+12° 32’ 30”

Additional Information

Cancer
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
20.12

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 294P/LINEAR from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 77.6°
Max altitude: 50.8°
Azimuth: 282.2°

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 294P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 317,961,062.0 kilometers, equivalent to 2.1254384204 Astronomical Units. Light takes 17m 40.604s to travel from comet 294P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

317,961,062.0
2.1254384204
17m 40.604s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 294P/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 294P/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 294P/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 294P/LINEAR to Earth will happen on Wednesday 4 March 2048 at a distance of 0.344813 Astronomical Units, or 51,583,245 kilometers:

Wednesday 4 March 2048
51,583,245
0.344813

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 294P/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 294P/LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 294P/LINEAR at epoch December, 26 2011 00:00 UTC (JD: 2455922.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.59629511
Orbit inclination i 18.23310245°
Perihelion distance q 1.29146685 AU
193,200,692 km
Aphelion distance Q 5.10660709 AU
763,937,548 km
Semi-major axis a 3.19903697 AU
478,569,120 km
Orbital period period 5.7219 years
2,089.9087 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp March 2, 2014
2,456,719.2412 JD
Next perihelion transit November 21, 2019
2,458,809.1499 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 235.21101191413°
Longitude of the ascending node node 313.09250999718°
Mean anomaly M 222.75629228908°
Mean motion n 0.17225633°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 294P/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 294P/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 27 2025 08h 32m 52s +14° 45’ 27” 20.18 Cancer
Jun 28 2025 08h 35m 47s +14° 26’ 40” 20.17 Cancer
Jun 29 2025 08h 38m 43s +14° 07’ 41” 20.16 Cancer
Jun 30 2025 08h 41m 38s +13° 48’ 29” 20.15 Cancer
Jul 01 2025 08h 44m 34s +13° 29’ 03” 20.15 Cancer
Jul 02 2025 08h 47m 30s +13° 09’ 24” 20.14 Cancer
Jul 03 2025 08h 50m 27s +12° 49’ 33” 20.13 Cancer
Jul 04 2025 08h 53m 24s +12° 29’ 28” 20.12 Cancer
Jul 05 2025 08h 56m 21s +12° 09’ 11” 20.12 Cancer
Jul 06 2025 08h 59m 19s +11° 48’ 42” 20.11 Cancer
Jul 07 2025 09h 02m 17s +11° 28’ 00” 20.10 Cancer
Jul 08 2025 09h 05m 16s +11° 07’ 05” 20.09 Cancer
Jul 09 2025 09h 08m 14s +10° 45’ 59” 20.09 Cancer
Jul 10 2025 09h 11m 13s +10° 24’ 40” 20.08 Cancer

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