Comet 402P/LINEAR

Comet 402P/LINEAR is currently in the constellation of Eridanus. The current Right Ascension of Comet 402P/LINEAR is 04h 02m 48s and the Declination is -02° 19’ 44” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet 402P/LINEAR is 18.18 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet 402P/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]:

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Additional information about Comet 402P/LINEAR available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet 402P/LINEAR?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet 402P/LINEAR from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet 402P/LINEAR rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet 402P/LINEAR?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet 402P/LINEAR orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet 402P/LINEAR with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet 402P/LINEAR for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet 402P/LINEAR in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet 402P/LINEAR with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet 402P/LINEAR is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Comet 402P/LINEAR?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet 402P/LINEAR in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Comet 402P/LINEAR Distance from Earth

The distance of Comet 402P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 751,972,796 kilometers, equivalent to 5.026628 Astronomical Units. Light takes 41 minutes and 48.3113 seconds to travel from Comet 402P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Comet 402P/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 402P/LINEAR from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest approach of Comet 402P/LINEAR to Earth

Between January 2013 and December 2100, the closest approach of Comet 402P/LINEAR to Earth happens on Tue Dec 28 2021 at a distance of 3.002067 Astronomical Units, or 449,102,778 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Comet 402P/LINEAR brightness

The current visual magnitude of Comet 402P/LINEAR is 18.18.

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 402P/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 402P/LINEAR rise and set times

Today's Comet 402P/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 402P/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.

Visualization of Comet 402P/LINEAR Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet 402P/LINEAR with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet 402P/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!

Comet 402P/LINEAR 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet 402P/LINEAR computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet 402P/LINEAR in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2021 Apr 30	03h 53m 50s	-03° 11’ 12”	18.20	Eridanus
2021 May 01	03h 54m 57s	-03° 04’ 31”	18.20	Eridanus
2021 May 02	03h 56m 04s	-02° 57’ 52”	18.20	Eridanus
2021 May 03	03h 57m 12s	-02° 51’ 19”	18.19	Eridanus
2021 May 04	03h 58m 19s	-02° 44’ 48”	18.19	Eridanus
2021 May 05	03h 59m 27s	-02° 38’ 21”	18.19	Eridanus
2021 May 06	04h 00m 35s	-02° 31’ 59”	18.19	Eridanus
2021 May 07	04h 01m 44s	-02° 25’ 40”	18.19	Eridanus
2021 May 08	04h 02m 52s	-02° 19’ 24”	18.18	Eridanus
2021 May 09	04h 04m 00s	-02° 13’ 14”	18.18	Eridanus
2021 May 10	04h 05m 08s	-02° 07’ 05”	18.18	Eridanus
2021 May 11	04h 06m 16s	-02° 01’ 03”	18.18	Eridanus
2021 May 12	04h 07m 26s	-01° 55’ 03”	18.17	Eridanus
2021 May 13	04h 08m 35s	-01° 49’ 06”	18.17	Eridanus