C/2021 Q6 PanSTARRS
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Comet C/2021 Q6 was discovered on 22 August 2021 with the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala), that is two years and seven months before its perihelion passage.
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 2 September 2024 (7.76 au), about half a year after its perihelion passage.
Preferred GR solution given here is based on data span over 3.81 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 10.99 au – 8.71 au (perihelion) – 8.80 au.
This Oort spike comet suffers tiny planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that likely lead to escape this comet from the solar system on a marginally hyperbolic orbit.
Comet had its closest approach to the Earth on 2 September 2024 (7.76 au), about half a year after its perihelion passage.
Preferred GR solution given here is based on data span over 3.81 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 10.99 au – 8.71 au (perihelion) – 8.80 au.
This Oort spike comet suffers tiny planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that likely lead to escape this comet from the solar system on a marginally hyperbolic orbit.
| solution description | ||
|---|---|---|
| number of observations | 371 | |
| data interval | 2021 01 02 – 2024 10 25 | |
| data type | perihelion within the observation arc (FULL) | |
| data arc selection | entire data set (STD) | |
| range of heliocentric distances | 10.99 au – 8.71 au (perihelion) – 8.8 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 | 615 | |
| RMS [arcseconds] | 0.26 | |
| orbit quality class | 1a+ | |
| orbital elements (barycentric ecliptic J2000) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Epoch | 1712 05 06 | |
| perihelion date | 2024 03 23.14848557 | ± 0.00274009 |
| perihelion distance [au] | 8.70156961 | ± 0.00001183 |
| eccentricity | 0.99970371 | ± 0.00000574 |
| argument of perihelion [°] | 140.851129 | ± 0.000169 |
| ascending node [°] | 133.451914 | ± 0.000039 |
| inclination [°] | 161.842154 | ± 0.000004 |
| reciprocal semi-major axis [10-6 au-1] | 34.05 | ± 0.66 |
| file containing 5001 VCs swarm |
|---|
| 2021q6pa.bmi |
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.
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.