C/1973 W1 Gibson
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Comet C/1973 W1 was discovered on 24 November 1973, about 3.5 months after perihelion passage, and was last seen on 11 October 1974 [Kronk and Meyer, Cometography: Volume 5]
The comet made its closest approach to the Earth on 19 October 1973 (3.372 au), 1.2 month before discovery.
Solution given here is based on data spanning over 0.86 yr in a range of heliocentric distances from 3.97 au to 5.29 au.
This Oort spike comet suffers small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that lead to escape the comet from the planetary zone on a hyperbolic orbit (see future barycentric orbit).
See also Królikowska 2014 and Królikowska and Dybczyński 2017.
The comet made its closest approach to the Earth on 19 October 1973 (3.372 au), 1.2 month before discovery.
Solution given here is based on data spanning over 0.86 yr in a range of heliocentric distances from 3.97 au to 5.29 au.
This Oort spike comet suffers small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that lead to escape the comet from the planetary zone on a hyperbolic orbit (see future barycentric orbit).
See also Królikowska 2014 and Królikowska and Dybczyński 2017.
| solution description | ||
|---|---|---|
| number of observations | 22 | |
| data interval | 1973 11 30 – 1974 10 11 | |
| data type | observed only after perihelion (POST) | |
| data arc selection | entire data set (STD) | |
| range of heliocentric distances | 3.97 au – 5.29au | |
| detectability of NG effects in the comet's motion | NG effects not determinable | |
| type of model of motion | GR - gravitational orbit | |
| data weighting | NO | |
| number of residuals | 43 | |
| RMS [arcseconds] | 0.72 | |
| orbit quality class | 1b | |
| orbital elements (heliocentric ecliptic J2000) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Epoch | 1973 08 26 | |
| perihelion date | 1973 08 09.89446700 | ± 0.00666900 |
| perihelion distance [au] | 3.84227589 | ± 0.00008706 |
| eccentricity | 1.00063440 | ± 0.00004761 |
| argument of perihelion [°] | 221.260826 | ± 0.002045 |
| ascending node [°] | 244.600667 | ± 0.000280 |
| inclination [°] | 108.066889 | ± 0.000095 |
| reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | -165.11 | ± 12.39 |
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.