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Comet 294P/LINEAR

Above the horizon.  Rise: 8:26 | Tran: 18:35 | Set: 4:48
Alt: 15.98°   Az: 52.64°   Direction: North-East

Comet 294P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Perseus, at a distance of 279,640,487.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 03h 48m 12s and the Declination is +35° 21’ 31” (apparent coordinates). The predicted magnitude of Comet 294P/LINEAR is 20.89 (data provided by JPL Horizons).

Finder Charts

Map showing Comet 294P/LINEAR in Perseus on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View interactive star map
Sky map showing Comet 294P/LINEAR in Perseus on February, 07 2025. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart

High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 294P/LINEAR is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

294P/LINEAR
RA: 03h 46m 34s
Dec: +35° 16’ 56”
Deep sky finder chart for Comet 294P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60x40 arcmins. View in deep sky object tracker

Also check out Where is Comet 294P/LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 294P/LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Celestial Coordinates

Apparent

03h 48m 12s
+35° 21’ 31”
16h 38m 10s
20h 26m 22s

J2000

03h 46m 34s
+35° 16’ 56”

Additional Information

Perseus
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
20.89

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

Azimuth: 54.6°
Max altitude: 73.8°
Azimuth: 305.4°
  • 294P/LINEAR is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
  • Right now it is placed in the North-East direction at an altitude of 15.98° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 294P/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 294P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 279,640,487.0 kilometers, equivalent to 1.8692811983 Astronomical Units. Light takes 15m 32.780s to travel from Comet 294P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

279,640,487.0
1.8692811983
15m 32.780s

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 294P/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 294P/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 294P/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 294P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Wed Mar 4 2048 at a distance of 0.344813 Astronomical Units, or 51,583,245 kilometers:

Wed Mar 4 2048
51,583,245
0.344813

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

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet 294P/LINEAR at epoch 26 December 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 2014-Mar-02 17:47:16
2,456,719.2412 JD
Next perihelion transit 2019-Nov-21 15:35
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

Orbit Diagram of Comet 294P/LINEAR
View Comet 294P/LINEAR in the 3D Solar System Simulator

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
2025 Jan 31 03h 45m 16s +36° 30’ 26” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 01 03h 45m 31s +36° 20’ 50” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 02 03h 45m 50s +36° 11’ 20” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 03 03h 46m 11s +36° 01’ 57” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 04 03h 46m 34s +35° 52’ 42” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 05 03h 46m 59s +35° 43’ 33” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 06 03h 47m 27s +35° 34’ 32” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 07 03h 47m 57s +35° 25’ 39” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 08 03h 48m 29s +35° 16’ 53” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 09 03h 49m 03s +35° 08’ 15” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 10 03h 49m 39s +34° 59’ 43” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 11 03h 50m 17s +34° 51’ 19” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 12 03h 50m 56s +34° 43’ 03” 20.89 Perseus
2025 Feb 13 03h 51m 38s +34° 34’ 54” 20.89 Perseus

Additional Resources