C/2020 F2 ATLAS
more info
Comet C/2020 F2 was discovered on 21 March 2020, more than three years before its perihelion passage. Later a series of pre-discovery observations were found going back to 27 May 2019 (heliocentric disctance: 10.96 au). This comet was observed until 30 May 2024 (as in February 2025).

Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 19 April 2022 (7.85 au); about three months before its perihelion passage.

The preferred GR solution given here is based on data span over 5.01 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 10.96 au – 8.82 au (perihelion) – 9.66 au.

This Oort spike comet suffers tiny planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that lead to a bit less tight future orbit inside the Oort spike zone (see future barycentric orbits).
solution description
number of observations 1247
data interval 2019 05 27 – 2022 07 14
data arc selection data generally limited to pre-perihelion (PRE)
range of heliocentric distances 10.96 au – 8.82au
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 2468
RMS [arcseconds] 0.31
orbit quality class 1a+
previous 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
previous reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] 61.89 – 62.37 – 62.86
previous perihelion distance [au] 11.94 – 12.02 – 12.1
previous aphelion distance [103 au] 31.8 – 32.06 – 32.3
time interval to previous perihelion [Myr] 2 – 2.02 – 2.04
percentage of VCs with 10 < qprev < 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).
previous_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
previous reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] 61.87 – 62.35 – 62.85
previous perihelion distance [au] 10.99 – 11.05 – 11.11
previous aphelion distance [103 au] 31.81 – 32.07 – 32.32
time interval to previous perihelion [Myr] 2 – 2.02 – 2.04
percentage of VCs with 10 < qprev < 20100