C/2016 N4 Master
more info


Comet C/2016 N4 was discovered on 15 July 2016 with Mobile Astronomical System of the Telescope-Robots (MASTER), that is about  months after its perihelion passage.

Some prediscovery images of this comet were found: taken on 11 September 2015 by ISON-SSO Observatory (Siding Spring).

Solutions given here are based on data spanning over 4.54 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 7.14 au – 3.199 au (perihelion) – 8.37 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 1030
data interval 2015 09 11 – 2017 09 16
data arc selection data generally limited to pre-perihelion (PRE)
range of heliocentric distances 7.14 au – 3.20 au (perihelion) – 3.2 au
type of model of motion NH - non-gravitational orbits for water sublimation from subsolar point
data weighting YES
number of residuals 2031
RMS [arcseconds] 0.33
orbit quality class 1a
orbital elements (heliocentric ecliptic J2000)
Epoch 2017 09 04
perihelion date 2017 09 16.60228257 ± 0.00131320
perihelion distance [au] 3.19908927 ± 0.00000470
eccentricity 0.99931656 ± 0.00001255
argument of perihelion [°] 55.956193 ± 0.000306
ascending node [°] 354.031713 ± 0.000047
inclination [°] 72.557589 ± 0.000036
reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] 213.64 ± 3.92
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).
non-gravitational parameters
A1 [10-8au/day2] 0.92426 ± 0.34611
A2 [10-8au/day2] -2.0625 ± 0.5776
A3 [10-8au/day2] 1.2609 ± 0.1953
m -2.00
n 3.000
k -2,752.4000
r0 [au] 50.000
α 0.0003