About C/2006 X1 (LINEAR)
C/2006 X1 (LINEAR) is a rare comet. It swings within 6.126 AU of the Sun at perihelion.
On a near-parabolic path — this may well be its one and only visit to the inner Solar System.
Rare comet 38 EP
C/2006 X1 (LINEAR)
Position computed live · sbdb
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Live ephemeris
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Score breakdown
· 5 badgesRare 50 pts → Epic
- Near-parabolic comet +10
- Never comes near the Sun +10
- Has a proper name +8
- Comet +6
- Steeply tilted orbit (i > 40°) +4
Total score 38
12 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Comet · +6
- Has a proper name · +8
- Near-parabolic comet · +10
- Never comes near the Sun · +10
- Steeply tilted orbit (i > 40°) · +4
Trivia
What it actually is
- Its orbit family. On a near-parabolic path — this may well be its one and only visit to the inner Solar System.
- Closest approach. At its nearest it comes within 6.13 AU of the Sun — inside the orbit of Saturn.
- Wild orbit. Its highly elliptical path swings between scorching and frozen each lap.
- Steeply tilted. Its orbit is tipped 43° out of the flat plane the planets share — it spends most of its time well above or below them.
Standing on it
- Tail. Its tail always points away from the Sun, never trailing behind its motion — it is blown, not dragged.
By the numbers
- Made of. A comet is a dirty snowball: water ice, frozen carbon dioxide and dust, held together loosely enough that some simply crumble when the Sun warms them.
What's in a name
- Named. Notable enough to have earned a proper name, not just a catalogue number.
Properties
- designation
- 2006 X1
- eccentricity
- 1
- full name
- C/2006 X1 (LINEAR)
- inclination
- 42.62
- moid au
- 5.41
- name
- C/2006 X1 (LINEAR)
- named
- yes
- orbit class
- PAR
- perihelion au
- 6.126
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, C/2006 X1 (LINEAR) is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. Because it moves against the background stars, the live position panel on this page tracks where it is right now. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why C/2006 X1 (LINEAR) is a rare comet
C/2006 X1 (LINEAR) scores 38 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 12 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Comet, Has a proper name, Near-parabolic comet, Never comes near the Sun and Steeply tilted orbit (i > 40°) — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.