249P/LINEAR
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase	PA
Nearest approach	24 Jan 2025	15.9	0.533 AU	1.469 AU	19h41m	-19°36'	10.6°	19.8°	270°
Perihelion	1 Feb 2025	15.6	0.500 AU	1.479 AU	20h47m	-15°15'	3.8°	7.4°	298°
Today	29 Oct 2025	25.3	3.292 AU	2.942 AU	07h38m	+15°41'	101.8°	17.2°	281°

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 17.8 + 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 249P/LINEAR are:

    e (Eccentricity)                : 0.8194360
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.4998410
    i (Inclination)                 : 8.37470
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 238.99730
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 65.82540
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 304.59240
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 7.63566
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2460708.24030
    P (Orbital period in years)     : 4.61

    Epoch                           : 2025 Oct 28
    Reference                       : MPEC 2022-YN2

    Classification(s):              : Ecliptic; Jupiter family
    Tisserand (Jupiter)             : 2.707

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-10-28 00:00 UT   07 38 44.2   +15 43 48     2.952    3.283  100.6   17.3   281   25.3 
2025-10-29 00:00 UT   07 38 38.1   +15 41 35     2.943    3.290  101.6   17.2   281   25.3 
2025-10-29 05:04 UT   07 38 36.6   +15 41 08     2.942    3.292  101.8   17.2   281   25.3 
2025-10-30 00:00 UT   07 38 30.6   +15 39 26     2.935    3.297  102.6   17.1   281   25.3 
2025-10-31 00:00 UT   07 38 21.7   +15 37 20     2.926    3.304  103.6   17.0   281   25.3 
2025-11-01 00:00 UT   07 38 11.4   +15 35 17     2.917    3.311  104.7   16.9   281   25.3 
2025-11-02 00:00 UT   07 37 59.6   +15 33 17     2.909    3.318  105.7   16.7   281   25.3 
2025-11-03 00:00 UT   07 37 46.5   +15 31 20     2.900    3.325  106.7   16.6   281   25.3 
2025-11-04 00:00 UT   07 37 31.9   +15 29 26     2.892    3.332  107.8   16.5   281   25.3 
2025-11-05 00:00 UT   07 37 15.9   +15 27 35     2.884    3.338  108.8   16.3   282   25.3 
2025-11-06 00:00 UT   07 36 58.5   +15 25 48     2.875    3.345  109.9   16.2   282   25.3 
2025-11-07 00:00 UT   07 36 39.7   +15 24 04     2.867    3.352  111.0   16.0   282   25.3 
2025-11-08 00:00 UT   07 36 19.4   +15 22 23     2.859    3.359  112.0   15.9   282   25.3 

    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.