C/2015 W1 Gibss
more info
Comet C/2015 W1 was discovered on 18 November 2015 by A.R. Gibbs (Catalina Sky Survey), that is half a year before its perihelion passage. Comet was followed until 3 July 2016. C/2015 V2 had closest approach to the Earth on 25 January 2016 (1.621 au, less than three months before the perihelion passage).

This is a comet with NG effects determinable using positional data fitting. Both solutions (GR and NG) are based on data spanning over 0.625 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 3.01 au – 2.232 au (perihelion) – 2.30 au.

This Oort Cloud comet (GR orbit gives marginally Oort Cloud comet with original semimajor axis about 10,000 au whereas NG orbit – marginally hyperbolic) suffers moderate planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system; these perturbations lead to more tight future orbit, but predictions for GR and NG orbits are different (see future barycentric orbits).
solution description
number of observations 356
data interval 2015 11 18 – 2016 07 03
data type observed only after perihelion (POST)
data arc selection entire data set (STD)
range of heliocentric distances 3.01 au – 2.23 au (perihelion) – 2.3 au
type of model of motion NS - non-gravitational orbits for standard g(r)
data weighting YES
number of residuals 695
RMS [arcseconds] 0.44
orbit quality class 1b
next orbit statistics, both Galactic and stellar perturbations were taken into account
no. of returning VCs in the swarm 5001 *
no. of escaping VCs in the swarm 0
no. of hyperbolas among escaping VCs in the swarm 0
next reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] 229.17 – 254.69 – 280.90
next perihelion distance [au] 2.2334 – 2.235 – 2.236
next aphelion distance [103 au] 7.12 – 7.85 – 8.72
time interval to next perihelion [Myr] 0.21 – 0.25 – 0.29
percentage of VCs with qnext < 10100
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_g orbit statistics, here only the Galactic tide has been included
no. of returning VCs in the swarm 5001 *
no. of escaping VCs in the swarm 0
no. of hyperbolas among escaping VCs in the swarm 0
next reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] 229.15 – 254.68 – 280.88
next perihelion distance [au] 2.2324 – 2.2338 – 2.2348
next aphelion distance [103 au] 7.12 – 7.85 – 8.73
time interval to next perihelion [Myr] 0.21 – 0.25 – 0.29
percentage of VCs with qnext < 10100