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public  Monaghan, Ireland Monaghan, Ireland  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/Dublin
Sunrise: 5:08 
Transit: 13:33 
Sunset: 21:56
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Comets » 

Comet 402P/LINEAR

Below the horizon.  Rise: 12:07 | Tran: 20:14 | Set: 4:24
Alt: -1.44°   Az: 310.62°   Direction: North-West

Comet 402P/LINEAR is in the constellation of Bootes, at a distance of 1,069,644,356.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 14h 02m 03s and the Declination is +21° 05’ 10” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 402P/LINEAR, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 22.46.

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 402P/LINEAR in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 402P/LINEAR in the constellation of Bootes on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 402P/LINEAR in the constellation of Bootes 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 402P/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.

402P/LINEAR
RA: 14h 00m 51s
Dec: +21° 12’ 31”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 402P/LINEAR. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

14h 02m 03s
+21° 05’ 10”
08h 22m 19s
22h 24m 22s

J2000

14h 00m 51s
+21° 12’ 31”

Additional Information

Bootes
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
22.46

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 402P/LINEAR from Monaghan, Ireland (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Dublin):

Azimuth: 68.9°
Max altitude: 56.8°
Azimuth: 291.1°

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 402P/LINEAR from Earth is currently 1,069,644,356.0 kilometers, equivalent to 7.1501308875 Astronomical Units. Light takes 59m 27.950s to travel from comet 402P/LINEAR and arrive to us.

1,069,644,356.0
7.1501308875
59m 27.950s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 402P/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 402P/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 402P/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 402P/LINEAR to Earth happened on Tuesday 28 December 2021 at a distance of 3.002068 Astronomical Units, or 449,102,909 kilometers:

Tuesday 28 December 2021
449,102,909
3.002068

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 402P/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 402P/LINEAR as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 402P/LINEAR at epoch February, 21 2013 00:00 UTC (JD: 2456345.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.43884048
Orbit inclination i 30.89464570°
Perihelion distance q 3.91620473 AU
585,855,891 km
Aphelion distance Q 10.04134059 AU
1,502,163,174 km
Semi-major axis a 6.97877266 AU
1,044,009,532 km
Orbital period period 18.4364 years
6,733.9053 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp December 9, 2021
2,459,558.2961 JD
Next perihelion transit May 17, 2040
2,466,292.2014 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 326.98452993264°
Longitude of the ascending node node 123.13190359498°
Mean anomaly M 188.24133446935°
Mean motion n 0.05346081°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 402P/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 402P/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
Jul 03 2025 14h 01m 51s +21° 37’ 10” 22.41 Bootes
Jul 04 2025 14h 01m 51s +21° 32’ 49” 22.42 Bootes
Jul 05 2025 14h 01m 51s +21° 28’ 26” 22.42 Bootes
Jul 06 2025 14h 01m 53s +21° 24’ 00” 22.43 Bootes
Jul 07 2025 14h 01m 54s +21° 19’ 31” 22.44 Bootes
Jul 08 2025 14h 01m 56s +21° 15’ 01” 22.44 Bootes
Jul 09 2025 14h 01m 59s +21° 10’ 27” 22.45 Bootes
Jul 10 2025 14h 02m 02s +21° 05’ 52” 22.46 Bootes
Jul 11 2025 14h 02m 06s +21° 01’ 14” 22.47 Bootes
Jul 12 2025 14h 02m 10s +20° 56’ 35” 22.47 Bootes
Jul 13 2025 14h 02m 15s +20° 51’ 53” 22.48 Bootes
Jul 14 2025 14h 02m 20s +20° 47’ 10” 22.49 Bootes
Jul 15 2025 14h 02m 26s +20° 42’ 25” 22.50 Bootes
Jul 16 2025 14h 02m 33s +20° 37’ 38” 22.50 Bootes

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