C/2015 W1 Gibss
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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).
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 | |
| previous orbit statistics, both Galactic and stellar perturbations were taken into account | ||
|---|---|---|
| no. of returning VCs in the swarm | 181 | |
| no. of escaping VCs in the swarm | 4820 | * |
| no. of hyperbolas among escaping VCs in the swarm | 2370 | |
| previous reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | -9.70 – 0.56 – 10.43 | |
| previous perihelion distance [au] | 11 – 13 – 15 | |
| previous aphelion distance [103 au] | 150 – 370 – 1800 | |
| synchronous stop epoch [Myr] | -2.22 | S |
| percentage of VCs with qprev < 10 | 2 | |
| percentage of VCs with 10 < qprev < 20 | 98 | |
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).
| previous_g orbit statistics, here only the Galactic tide has been included | ||
|---|---|---|
| no. of returning VCs in the swarm | 81 | |
| no. of escaping VCs in the swarm | 4920 | * |
| no. of hyperbolas among escaping VCs in the swarm | 2457 | |
| previous reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | -10.14 – 0.19 – 10.12 | |
| previous perihelion distance [au] | 11 – 13 – 17 | |
| previous aphelion distance [103 au] | 160 – 380 – 2000 | |
| synchronous stop epoch [Myr] | -2.18 | S |
| percentage of VCs with qprev < 10 | 5 | |
| percentage of VCs with 10 < qprev < 20 | 95 | |