C/2017 U7
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Comet C/2017 U7 was discovered on 29 October 2017 with Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala), that is almost 2 years before its perihelion passage. Several prediscovery images of this comet were found: taken by the same survey from 18 August and 13 September 2017. This comet was observed until 3 August 2022 (as on September 2023).
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 1 August 2019 (5.493 au), less than 1.5 months before its perihelion passage.
The preferred solution given here is based on data spanning over 4.96 yr in a range of heliocentric distances from 8.14 au – 6.42 au (perihelion) – 9.41 au.
This near-parabolic comet (original semimajor axis around 9,000 au) suffers small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that likely lead to escape the comet from the planetary zone on a hyperbolic orbit (see future barycentric orbits).
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 1 August 2019 (5.493 au), less than 1.5 months before its perihelion passage.
The preferred solution given here is based on data spanning over 4.96 yr in a range of heliocentric distances from 8.14 au – 6.42 au (perihelion) – 9.41 au.
This near-parabolic comet (original semimajor axis around 9,000 au) suffers small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that likely lead to escape the comet from the planetary zone on a hyperbolic orbit (see future barycentric orbits).
| solution description | ||
|---|---|---|
| number of observations | 392 | |
| data interval | 2017 08 18 – 2019 09 07 | |
| data arc selection | data generally limited to pre-perihelion (PRE) | |
| range of heliocentric distances | 8.14 au – 6.42au | |
| 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 | 777 | |
| RMS [arcseconds] | 0.29 | |
| orbit quality class | 1a+ | |
| orbital elements (barycentric ecliptic J2000) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Epoch | 1710 09 14 | |
| perihelion date | 2019 09 13.16043068 | ± 0.00119060 |
| perihelion distance [au] | 6.41018276 | ± 0.00000589 |
| eccentricity | 0.99925511 | ± 0.00000359 |
| argument of perihelion [°] | 326.120775 | ± 0.000113 |
| ascending node [°] | 276.185082 | ± 0.000016 |
| inclination [°] | 142.650149 | ± 0.000006 |
| reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | 116.20 | ± 0.56 |
| file containing 5001 VCs swarm |
|---|
| 2017u7pa.bmi |
Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of original swarm including 5001 VCs. Each density map is given in logarithmic scale presented on the right in the individual panel.