Skip Navigation Links

472P/NEAT-LINEAR
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Perihelion13 Jul 202416.73.387 AU4.139 AU 04h55m+17°03'37.3°10.5°256°
Nearest approach19 Dec 202415.93.563 AU2.609 AU 06h28m+09°23'163.4°4.5°329°
Today21 Oct 202518.44.582 AU5.016 AU 09h54m+03°00'58.9°10.7°285°
472P/NEAT-LINEAR- 2025-10-21
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
-1 month
-1 week
-1 day
Now
+1 day
+1 week
+1 month

The interactive orbit chart above shows the comet's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)


Light curve

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations from COBS. This lightcurve is being recalculated every 6 hours based on the available COBS/MPC observations (currently 8.3 + 5 log[∆] + 10.0 log[r]). An additional green curve is displayed when an increase in apparent brightness is expected due to forward scattering of sunlight, which occurs when a dust-rich comet is located between the Earth and the Sun. (See Marcus 2007)



Charts

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the comet over the same period as the light curve. The comet's current position is marked yellow.





The following chart shows the short-term path of the comet in a field of view that is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.




Orbital elements

The orbital elements of 472P/NEAT-LINEAR are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 0.5640280
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 3.3866270
    i (Inclination)                 : 10.82570
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 205.81740
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 218.81350
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 244.12940
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -6.76079
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460505.29950
    P (Orbital period in years)     : 21.65

    Epoch                           : 2025 Oct 20
    Reference                       : MPC188421

    Classification(s):              : Nearly isotropic; Returning (a < 10000 AU); Halley type (P < 200 years)

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-10-20 00:00 UT   09 53 33.0   +03 09 19     5.032    4.575   57.5   10.6   284   18.4 
2025-10-21 00:00 UT   09 54 14.7   +03 04 25     5.023    4.579   58.3   10.7   284   18.4 
2025-10-21 17:05 UT   09 54 44.1   +03 00 56     5.016    4.582   58.9   10.7   285   18.4 
2025-10-22 00:00 UT   09 54 55.9   +02 59 32     5.014    4.583   59.1   10.7   285   18.4 
2025-10-23 00:00 UT   09 55 36.6   +02 54 40     5.005    4.587   59.9   10.8   285   18.4 
2025-10-24 00:00 UT   09 56 16.7   +02 49 50     4.995    4.591   60.7   10.9   285   18.4 
2025-10-25 00:00 UT   09 56 56.3   +02 45 02     4.986    4.595   61.5   11.0   285   18.4 
2025-10-26 00:00 UT   09 57 35.4   +02 40 15     4.976    4.599   62.3   11.0   285   18.4 
2025-10-27 00:00 UT   09 58 13.8   +02 35 30     4.967    4.603   63.1   11.1   286   18.4 
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   09 58 51.8   +02 30 47     4.957    4.607   63.9   11.2   286   18.4 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   09 59 29.1   +02 26 06     4.947    4.611   64.7   11.2   286   18.4 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   10 00 05.9   +02 21 26     4.937    4.615   65.5   11.3   286   18.4 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   10 00 42.0   +02 16 49     4.927    4.620   66.4   11.4   286   18.4 




    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between comet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between comet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-comet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km

Orbital elements usually provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database) or the MPC (Minor Planet Center)
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.

Privacy policy