C/1959 X1 Mrkos
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Comet C/1959 X1 was discovered on 3 December 1959 by Antonín Mrkos at Skalnaté Pleso [Kronk, Cometography: Volume 4], that is 3 weeks after its perihelion passage and closest approach to the Earth. C/1959 X1 was observed until 26 September 1960. Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 12 November 1959 (2.05 au, at this moment comet was almost at its perihelion).
The MPC cometary database presents GR orbit based of 29 positional observations (data arc: 1959 12 04 – 1960 09 26) obtained by Zdeněk Sekanina, however only 19 observations obtained in Flagstaff are available in the MPC (data arc as above), and the JPL offers GR osculating orbit based on this data set. Orbit presented here is based on the enriched data set including 38 positional measurements where two of them turned out to be outliers (we additionally collected observations from Yerkes and Skalnaté Pleso observatories published in literature) in a range of heliocetric distances: 1.29 au – 1.25 au (perihelion) – 4.22 au.
This Oort spike comet suffers notable planetary perturbations while passing through the planetary system; these perturbations lead to significantly more tight future orbit with semimajor axis of 388 au and period of about 7700 yr (see future barycentric orbits).
The MPC cometary database presents GR orbit based of 29 positional observations (data arc: 1959 12 04 – 1960 09 26) obtained by Zdeněk Sekanina, however only 19 observations obtained in Flagstaff are available in the MPC (data arc as above), and the JPL offers GR osculating orbit based on this data set. Orbit presented here is based on the enriched data set including 38 positional measurements where two of them turned out to be outliers (we additionally collected observations from Yerkes and Skalnaté Pleso observatories published in literature) in a range of heliocetric distances: 1.29 au – 1.25 au (perihelion) – 4.22 au.
This Oort spike comet suffers notable planetary perturbations while passing through the planetary system; these perturbations lead to significantly more tight future orbit with semimajor axis of 388 au and period of about 7700 yr (see future barycentric orbits).
| solution description | ||
|---|---|---|
| number of observations | 38 | |
| data interval | 1959 12 03 – 1960 09 26 | |
| data type | observed only after perihelion (POST) | |
| data arc selection | entire data set (STD) | |
| range of heliocentric distances | 1.29 au – 4.22au | |
| detectability of NG effects in the comet's motion | NG effects not determinable | |
| type of model of motion | GR - gravitational orbit | |
| data weighting | NO | |
| number of residuals | 68 | |
| RMS [arcseconds] | 0.95 | |
| orbit quality class | 1b | |
| orbital elements (heliocentric ecliptic J2000) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Epoch | 1959 11 08 | |
| perihelion date | 1959 11 13.21601124 | ± 0.00071698 |
| perihelion distance [au] | 1.25346801 | ± 0.00001082 |
| eccentricity | 0.99974339 | ± 0.00002057 |
| argument of perihelion [°] | 84.692620 | ± 0.000727 |
| ascending node [°] | 100.620456 | ± 0.000149 |
| inclination [°] | 19.633858 | ± 0.000117 |
| reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | 204.72 | ± 16.41 |
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).
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).