C/2017 B3 LINEAR
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Comet C/2017 B3 was discovered on 26 January 2017 with the LINEAR survey, , that is about two years before its perihelion passage. Some prediscovery images of this comet were found: taken on 1 and 10 of Aprilnbsp;2016 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala).
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 19nbsp;Augustnbsp;2019 (3.480nbsp;au), about a 6.5nbsp;months after its perihelion passage.
Preferred NGnbsp;solution given here is based on data arc spanning over 5.83nbsp;yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 9.16 au – 3.92 au (perihelion) – 9.15 au.
This comet suffers small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system; this is a long-period comet with original and future semimajor axes of about 3,300 au, and 2,100 au, respectively.
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 19nbsp;Augustnbsp;2019 (3.480nbsp;au), about a 6.5nbsp;months after its perihelion passage.
Preferred NGnbsp;solution given here is based on data arc spanning over 5.83nbsp;yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 9.16 au – 3.92 au (perihelion) – 9.15 au.
This comet suffers small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system; this is a long-period comet with original and future semimajor axes of about 3,300 au, and 2,100 au, respectively.
solution description | ||
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number of observations | 365 | |
data interval | 2016 03 04 – 2019 02 01 | |
data arc selection | data generally limited to pre-perihelion (PRE) | |
range of heliocentric distances | 9.16 au – 3.92au | |
type of model of motion | NC - non-gravitational orbits for symmetric CO-g(r)-like function | |
data weighting | YES | |
number of residuals | 709 | |
RMS [arcseconds] | 0.27 | |
orbit quality class | 1a |
orbital elements (barycentric ecliptic J2000) | ||
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Epoch | 1712 05 06 | |
perihelion date | 2019 02 02.58818270 | ± 0.00149842 |
perihelion distance [au] | 3.92466496 | ± 0.00001352 |
eccentricity | 0.99883751 | ± 0.00000505 |
argument of perihelion [°] | 284.667625 | ± 0.000223 |
ascending node [°] | 2.228715 | ± 0.000024 |
inclination [°] | 54.290608 | ± 0.000059 |
reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | 296.20 | ± 1.29 |
file containing 5001 VCs swarm |
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2017b3pc.bmi |

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).