C/2017 M4 ATLAS
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Comet C/2017 M4 was discovered on 21 June 2017 by Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) Team, that is about months after its perihelion passage.
Some prediscovery images of this comet were found: taken on 16 June 2017 by Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala).
Solutions given here are based on data spanning over 4.46 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 6.09 au – 3.252 au (perihelion) – 9.19 au.
NG orbits using full data-arc as well as independently using pre-perihelion and post-perihelion data are determinable.
See also Królikowska and Dones 2023.
| solution description | ||
|---|---|---|
| number of observations | 1293 | |
| data interval | 2017 06 16 – 2018 05 24 | |
| data arc selection | data generally limited to pre-perihelion (PRE) | |
| range of heliocentric distances | 6.09 au – 3.95au | |
| detectability of NG effects in the comet's motion | comet with NG effects strongly manifested in positional data fitting | |
| type of model of motion | GR - gravitational orbit | |
| data weighting | YES | |
| number of residuals | 2552 | |
| RMS [arcseconds] | 0.32 | |
| orbit quality class | 1a | |
| 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] | 115.82 – 116.51 – 117.20 | |
| next perihelion distance [au] | 3.2833 – 3.2844 – 3.2854 | |
| next aphelion distance [103 au] | 17.06 – 17.16 – 17.27 | |
| time interval to next perihelion [Myr] | 0.7873 – 0.7943 – 0.8015 | |
| percentage of VCs with qnext < 10 | 100 | |
| next 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] | 115.79 – 116.49 – 117.18 | |
| next perihelion distance [au] | 3.2849 – 3.2858 – 3.2868 | |
| next aphelion distance [103 au] | 17.06 – 17.17 – 17.27 | |
| time interval to next perihelion [Myr] | 0.7876 – 0.7946 – 0.8017 | |
| percentage of VCs with qnext < 10 | 100 | |