C/2021 C5 PanSTARRS
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Comet C/2021 C5 was discovered on 12 February 2021 with the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala), that is almost two years before its perihelion passage. a few pre-discovery measurements were next found extending the data arc about three weeks back.
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 20 June 2023 (2.80 au), more than four months after its perihelion passage.
The preferred NG solution given here ('c5') is based on data span over 3.53 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 7.43 au – 3.24 au (perihelion) – 5.60 au.
This comet shows visible trends in the O-C distribution for a GR orbit. It is worth noting that, ignoring the existence of NG effects, the last two observations from early July 2024 (after an 11-month data gap) were rejected as poorly fitting the rest of the measurements. The problem disappears for the NG orbit, and these measurements already lie well in the orbit. However, some [O-C] trends are still visible before perihelion in the case of NG solution (first opposition).
This Oort spike comet suffers moderate planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that lead to a more tight future orbit (semimajor axis of about 1,800-1,900 au).
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 20 June 2023 (2.80 au), more than four months after its perihelion passage.
The preferred NG solution given here ('c5') is based on data span over 3.53 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 7.43 au – 3.24 au (perihelion) – 5.60 au.
This comet shows visible trends in the O-C distribution for a GR orbit. It is worth noting that, ignoring the existence of NG effects, the last two observations from early July 2024 (after an 11-month data gap) were rejected as poorly fitting the rest of the measurements. The problem disappears for the NG orbit, and these measurements already lie well in the orbit. However, some [O-C] trends are still visible before perihelion in the case of NG solution (first opposition).
This Oort spike comet suffers moderate planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that lead to a more tight future orbit (semimajor axis of about 1,800-1,900 au).
| solution description | ||
|---|---|---|
| number of observations | 454 | |
| data interval | 2020 12 22 – 2023 08 26 | |
| data type | perihelion within the observation arc (FULL) | |
| data arc selection | entire data set (STD) | |
| range of heliocentric distances | 7.43 au – 3.24 au (perihelion) – 3.73 au | |
| 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 | 896 | |
| RMS [arcseconds] | 0.36 | |
| orbit quality class | 1a+ | |
| orbital elements (heliocentric ecliptic J2000) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Epoch | 2023 02 25 | |
| perihelion date | 2023 02 11.07872020 | ± 0.00046450 |
| perihelion distance [au] | 3.24194267 | ± 0.00000261 |
| eccentricity | 0.99868100 | ± 0.00000289 |
| argument of perihelion [°] | 270.922387 | ± 0.000090 |
| ascending node [°] | 323.682771 | ± 0.000005 |
| inclination [°] | 50.781488 | ± 0.000013 |
| reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | 406.86 | ± 0.89 |
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.