© Andy Roberts 1997. Pictured comet is C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp.

Comet 333P/LINEAR passes perihelion

Dominic Ford, Editor
From the Comets feed

Objects: 333P/LINEAR
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Comet 333P/LINEAR will make its closest approach to the Sun on 28 November, at a distance of 1.12 AU.

From Ashburn on the day of perihelion it will be visible in the dawn sky, rising at 23:17 (EDT) and reaching an altitude of 68° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 05:56.

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The events that comprise the 2024 apparition of 333P/LINEAR are as follows:

Date Event
28 Nov 2024Comet 333P/LINEAR passes perihelion

The table below lists the times when 333P/LINEAR will be visible from Ashburn day-by-day through its apparition:

Date Constellation Comet visibility
07 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 03:29 until 05:36
Highest at 05:36, 45° above SE horizon
09 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 03:19 until 05:38
Highest at 05:38, 47° above SE horizon
11 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 03:10 until 05:40
Highest at 05:40, 50° above SE horizon
13 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 03:01 until 05:42
Highest at 05:42, 52° above SE horizon
15 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 02:51 until 05:44
Highest at 05:44, 54° above SE horizon
17 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 02:41 until 05:46
Highest at 05:46, 57° above SE horizon
19 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 02:31 until 05:48
Highest at 05:48, 59° above SE horizon
21 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 02:22 until 05:50
Highest at 05:50, 62° above SE horizon
23 Nov 2024LeoVisible from 02:12 until 05:52
Highest at 05:52, 64° above E horizon
25 Nov 2024Ursa MajorVisible from 02:02 until 05:54
Highest at 05:54, 66° above E horizon
27 Nov 2024Ursa MajorVisible from 01:52 until 05:56
Highest at 05:56, 68° above E horizon
29 Nov 2024Canes VenaticiVisible from 01:43 until 05:57
Highest at 05:57, 68° above E horizon
01 Dec 2024Canes VenaticiVisible from 01:35 until 05:59
Highest at 05:59, 67° above E horizon
03 Dec 2024Canes VenaticiVisible from 01:28 until 06:01
Highest at 06:01, 65° above NE horizon
05 Dec 2024Ursa MajorVisible from 01:25 until 06:03
Highest at 06:03, 60° above NE horizon
07 Dec 2024Ursa MajorVisible from 01:28 until 06:04
Highest at 06:04, 55° above NE horizon
09 Dec 2024DracoVisible from 17:55 until 06:06
Highest at 06:06, 49° above NE horizon
11 Dec 2024DracoVisible from 17:56 until 06:07
Highest at 06:07, 43° above NE horizon
13 Dec 2024DracoVisible from 17:56 until 06:09
Highest at 06:09, 36° above NE horizon
15 Dec 2024DracoVisible from 17:57 until 06:10
Highest at 17:57, 41° above NW horizon
17 Dec 2024DracoVisible from 17:57 until 06:11
Highest at 17:57, 45° above NW horizon

A more detailed table of 333P/LINEAR's position on each night is available here. A diagram of the orbit of 333P/LINEAR is available here.

Finder chart

The chart below shows the path of 333P/LINEAR over the course of its apparition, as calculated from the orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC). It is available for download, either on dark background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats, or on a light background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats. It was produced using StarCharter.

Comet brightnesses

Comets are intrinsically highly unpredictable objects, since their brightness depends on the scattering of sunlight from dust particles in the comet's coma and tail. This dust is continually streaming away from the comet's nucleus, and its density at any particular time is governed by the rate of sublimation of the ice in the comet's nucleus, as it is heated by the Sun's rays. It also depends on the amount of dust that is mixed in with that ice. This is very difficult to predict in advance, and can be highly variable even between successive apparitions of the same comet.

In consequence, while the future positions of comets are usually known with a high degree of confidence, their future brightnesses are not. For most comets, we do not publish any magnitude estimates at all. For the few comets where we do make estimates, we generally prefer the BAA's magnitude parameters to those published by the Minor Planet Center, since they are typically updated more often.

Based on the magnitude parameters published for this comet by the BAA Comet Section, we estimate that it may be around mag 11 on 28 November 2024. This estimate is based on observations that the BAA has received from amateur astronomers, assuming that its current level of activity will remain constant.

You will probably require a telescope to see this comet. It is unlikely to be visible through bird-watching binoculars, and even less likely to be visible to the unaided eye.

The comet's position at perihelion will be:

Object Right Ascension Declination Constellation Magnitude
Comet 333P/LINEAR 12h02m20s 35°05'N 10.8

The coordinates are given in J2000.0.

The sky on 28 Nov 2024

The sky on 28 November 2024
Sunrise
07:04
Sunset
16:48
Twilight ends
18:22
Twilight begins
05:30

27-day old moon
Waning Crescent

4%

27 days old

Planets
Rise Culm. Set
Mercury 08:23 13:01 17:39
Venus 10:26 15:03 19:40
Moon 04:33 09:52 15:02
Mars 20:55 04:12 11:29
Jupiter 17:23 00:43 08:04
Saturn 13:00 18:35 00:09
All times shown in EST.

Source

This event was automatically generated on the basis of orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) , and is updated whenever new elements become available. It was last updated on 16 Sep 2024.

Image credit

© Andy Roberts 1997. Pictured comet is C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp.

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39.04°N
77.49°W
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