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 a year and seven months before its perihelion passage. Some prediscovery images of this comet were found: taken on 16 June 2017 by Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala). In 2020, this comet is still observed.
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 13 May 2019 (2.481 au), almost 4 months after its perihelion passage.
Solution given here is based on pre-perihelion data spanning over 0.94 yr in a range of heliocentric distances from 6.09 au to 3.95 au (24 May 2018).
This Oort spike comet suffers small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system and probably lead to tighter future orbit with semimajor axis shorter than 10,000 au. (see future barycentric orbit).
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 13 May 2019 (2.481 au), almost 4 months after its perihelion passage.
Solution given here is based on pre-perihelion data spanning over 0.94 yr in a range of heliocentric distances from 6.09 au to 3.95 au (24 May 2018).
This Oort spike comet suffers small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system and probably lead to tighter future orbit with semimajor axis shorter than 10,000 au. (see future barycentric orbit).
| solution description | ||
|---|---|---|
| number of observations | 1293 | |
| data interval | 2017 06 16 – 2018 05 24 | |
| data type | observed only before perihelion (PRE) | |
| data arc selection | entire data set (STD) | |
| range of heliocentric distances | 6.09 au – 3.95au | |
| 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 | 2552 | |
| RMS [arcseconds] | 0.32 | |
| orbit quality class | 1a | |
| orbital elements (heliocentric ecliptic J2000) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Epoch | 2019 02 06 | |
| perihelion date | 2019 01 18.18587232 | ± 0.00032923 |
| perihelion distance [au] | 3.25169949 | ± 0.00000552 |
| eccentricity | 1.00233052 | ± 0.00000178 |
| argument of perihelion [°] | 167.622770 | ± 0.000080 |
| ascending node [°] | 65.867236 | ± 0.000017 |
| inclination [°] | 105.657661 | ± 0.000003 |
| recip semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | -716.71 | ± 0.55 |