C/2015 X5 | CODEC

C/2015 X5 PANSTARRS

Comet C/2015 X5 was discovered on 6 December 2015 with Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala), that is almost 2 years before its perihelion passage.

Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 4 January 2018 (5.909 au); 4 days after its perihelion passage.

The preferred solution given here is based on data spanning over 4.19 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 8.38 au – 6.80 au (perihelion) – 8.45 au.

This Oort spike comet suffers tiny planetary perturbations.

2015x5b5 2015x5a5

solution description
number of observations	171
data interval	2015 12 06 – 2018 02 08
data arc selection	data generally limited to pre-perihelion (PRE)
range of heliocentric distances	8.38 au – 6.80 au (perihelion) – 6.81 au
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	332
RMS [arcseconds]	0.22
orbit quality class	1a+

next 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
next reciprocal semi-major axis [10^-6 au^-1]	36.50 – 37.23 – 37.96
next perihelion distance [au]	20.6 – 20.8 – 21.1
next aphelion distance [10³ au]	52.7 – 53.7 – 54.8
time interval to next perihelion [Myr]	4.25 – 4.37 – 4.5
percentage of VCs with q_next > 20	100

next 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
next reciprocal semi-major axis [10^-6 au^-1]	36.14 – 36.87 – 37.61
next perihelion distance [au]	13.5 – 14.4 – 15.3
next aphelion distance [10³ au]	53.2 – 54.2 – 55.3
time interval to next perihelion [Myr]	4.33 – 4.46 – 4.6
percentage of VCs with 10 < q_next < 20	100