C/2016 N4 Master
more info


Comet C/2016 N4 was discovered on 15 July 2016 with Mobile Astronomical System of the Telescope-Robots (MASTER), that is about  months after its perihelion passage.

Some prediscovery images of this comet were found: taken on 11 September 2015 by ISON-SSO Observatory (Siding Spring).

Solutions given here are based on data spanning over 4.54 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 7.14 au – 3.199 au (perihelion) – 8.37 au.

NG orbits using full data-arc as well as independently using pre-perihelion and post-perihelion data are determinable.

See also Królikowska and Dones 2023.
solution description
number of observations 1030
data interval 2015 09 11 – 2017 09 16
data arc selection data generally limited to pre-perihelion (PRE)
range of heliocentric distances 7.14 au – 3.20 au (perihelion) – 3.2 au
type of model of motion NH - non-gravitational orbits for water sublimation from subsolar point
data weighting YES
number of residuals 2031
RMS [arcseconds] 0.33
orbit quality class 1a
orbital elements (barycentric ecliptic J2000)
Epoch 1713 07 20
perihelion date 2017 09 16.08251301 ± 0.00072371
perihelion distance [au] 3.20055389 ± 0.00000372
eccentricity 0.99942230 ± 0.00000561
argument of perihelion [°] 55.963117 ± 0.000115
ascending node [°] 354.088836 ± 0.000012
inclination [°] 72.512904 ± 0.000055
reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] 180.50 ± 1.75
file containing 5001 VCs swarm
2016n4ps.bmi
Upper panel: Time distribution of positional observations with corresponding heliocentric (red curve) and geocentric (green curve) distance at which they were taken. The horizontal dotted line shows the perihelion distance for a given comet whereas vertical dotted line — the moment of perihelion passage.
Middle panel(s): O-C diagram for a given solution (sometimes in comparison to another solution available in CODE), where residuals in right ascension are shown using magenta dots and in declination by blue open circles.
Lowest panel: Relative weights for a given data set(s).
Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of original swarm including 5001 VCs. Each density map is given in logarithmic scale presented on the right in the individual panel.