C/2018 W2 Africano
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Comet C/2018 W2 was discovered on 27 November 2018, about ten months before its perihelion passage, and was last seen on 15 June 2020.
Solutions (GR and NG) given here span over 1.55 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 3.81 au – 1.46 au (perihelion) – 3.83 au; also orbit based on pre-perihelion data is presented.
This long-period comet of original semimajor axis of about 2,000 au suffers moderate planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system and these perturbations lead to escape the comet from the planetary zone on a hyperbolic orbit (see future barycentric orbits).
Solutions (GR and NG) given here span over 1.55 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 3.81 au – 1.46 au (perihelion) – 3.83 au; also orbit based on pre-perihelion data is presented.
This long-period comet of original semimajor axis of about 2,000 au suffers moderate planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system and these perturbations lead to escape the comet from the planetary zone on a hyperbolic orbit (see future barycentric orbits).
| solution description | ||
|---|---|---|
| number of observations | 1000 | |
| data interval | 2018 11 27 – 2019 09 05 | |
| data arc selection | data generally limited to pre-perihelion (PRE) | |
| range of heliocentric distances | 3.81 au – 1.46 au (perihelion) – 1.45 au | |
| detectability of NG effects in the comet's motion | comet with determinable NG~orbit | |
| type of model of motion | GR - gravitational orbit | |
| data weighting | YES | |
| number of residuals | 1979 | |
| RMS [arcseconds] | 0.37 | |
| orbit quality class | 1a | |
| orbital elements (barycentric ecliptic J2000) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Epoch | 1714 12 22 | |
| perihelion date | 2019 09 06.62996256 | ± 0.00002322 |
| perihelion distance [au] | 1.45700721 | ± 0.00000132 |
| eccentricity | 0.99928119 | ± 0.00000087 |
| argument of perihelion [°] | 158.055687 | ± 0.000044 |
| ascending node [°] | 181.882972 | ± 0.000028 |
| inclination [°] | 116.749287 | ± 0.00001 |
| reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | 493.35 | ± 0.60 |
| file containing 5001 VCs swarm |
|---|
| 2018w2p5.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.