C/2015 D3 PANSTARRS
more info
Comet C/2015 D3 was discovered on 19 February 2015 with Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala), that is about  months after its perihelion passage. Some prediscovery images of this comet were found: taken on 17 February 2015 by Space Surveillance Telescope (Atom Site) and 8 April 2013 by Siding Spring Survey. This comet was observed until 21 February 2020.

Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 28 February 2016 (7.167 au), about 2 months before its perihelion passage.

Solutions given here are based on data spanning over 6.87 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 10.46 au – 8.149 au (perihelion) – 11.49 au.

This Oort spike comet suffers slight planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system; however, these perturbations likely lead to escape the comet from the planetary zone on a hyperbolic orbit (see future barycentric orbits).

See also Królikowska and Dones 2023.

solution description
number of observations 314
data interval 2013 04 08 – 2020 02 21
data type perihelion within the observation arc (FULL)
data arc selection entire data set (STD)
range of heliocentric distances 10.46 au – 8.15 au (perihelion) – 11.49 au
detectability of NG effects in the comet's motion NG effects not determinable
type of model of motion GR - gravitational orbit
data weighting YES
number of residuals 609
RMS [arcseconds] 0.40
orbit quality class 1a+
next orbit statistics, both Galactic and stellar perturbations were taken into account
no. of returning VCs in the swarm 0
no. of escaping VCs in the swarm 5001
no. of hyperbolas among escaping VCs in the swarm 5001 *
next reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] -12.80 – -11.77 – -10.74
next perihelion distance [au] 36.2 – 37 – 37.8
synchronous stop epoch [Myr] 2.54 S
percentage of VCs with qnext > 20100
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).
next orbit statistics, here only the Galactic tide has been included
no. of returning VCs in the swarm 0
no. of escaping VCs in the swarm 5001
no. of hyperbolas among escaping VCs in the swarm 5001 *
next reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] -10.85 – -9.84 – -8.84
next perihelion distance [au] 27.2 – 27.8 – 28.4
synchronous stop epoch [Myr] 2.64 S
percentage of VCs with qnext > 20100