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 1045
data interval 2017 09 16 – 2020 03 26
data arc selection data generally limited to post-perihelion (POS)
range of heliocentric distances 3.2 au – 3.20 au (perihelion) – 8.37 au
detectability of NG effects in the comet's motion comet with determinable NG~orbit
type of model of motion GR - gravitational orbit
data weighting YES
number of residuals 2065
RMS [arcseconds] 0.44
orbit quality class 1a+
orbital elements (barycentric ecliptic J2000)
Epoch 2322 05 09
perihelion date 2017 09 16.32044950 ± 0.00018379
perihelion distance [au] 3.20145786 ± 0.00000215
eccentricity 0.99926680 ± 0.00000162
argument of perihelion [°] 55.976506 ± 0.000060
ascending node [°] 353.991886 ± 0.000010
inclination [°] 72.487679 ± 0.000006
reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] 229.02 ± 0.51
file containing 5001 VCs swarm
2016n4ra.bpl
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 future swarm including 5001 VCs. Each density map is given in logarithmic scale presented on the right in the individual panel.