Solar System
Dynamics &
Planetology
Group 		C/1987 H1 Shoemaker




data set of C/1987 H1

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General description

Comet C/1987 H1 was discovered by Carolyn S. and Eugene M. Shoemaker (with the 0.46-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar) on 25 April 1987 (IAUC 4384), when the comet was more than five months after its perihelion passage. The comet was last seen on 4 January 1992.

The comet made its closest approach to the Earth on 16 May 1987 (4.74 au), that was three weeks after its discovery.

Solution given below is based on data span over 4.7 yr in the range of heliocentric distances from 5.58 au to 13.40 au.

Comet suffered small planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system but these perturbations probably lead to escape of the comet from the solar system (see future orbit given below).


Figure caption: 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.



SSDP Cometary Note C1987H1A2-001

Comet C/1987 H1 Shoemaker

number of observations 127
number of residuals 242
data interval 1987 Apr. 25 — 1992 Jan. 4
rms [arcsec] 0.91
orbit quality class 1a+

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT) 19861126.0 = JD 2446760.5
time of perihelion passage (TT) 19861117.104282 ± 0.004053
perihelion distance 5.45751848 ± 0.00003120
eccentricity 1.00284157 ± 0.00001548
argument of perihelion [deg] 16.995673 ± 0.000555
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 268.325863 ± 0.000079
inclination [deg] 132.474265 ± 0.000057
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] -520.67 ± 2.83

Note: Epoch is given in a format: yyyymmdd.d, time of perihelion passage in a format of yyyymmdd.dddddd.

data set of C/1987 H1

Figure caption: Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of original swarm (5001 VCs) of C/1987 H1. Each density map is given in logarithmic scale presented on the right in the individual panel.
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Original orbital elements (barycentric; at 250 au from the Sun)

Epoch (TT) 16800622
time of perihelion passage (TT) 19861116.537694 ± 0.004017
perihelion distance 5.45109244 ± 0.00003114
eccentricity 0.99975221 ± 0.00001545
argument of perihelion [deg] 16.935975 ± 0.000553
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 268.239805 ± 0.000079
inclination [deg] 132.519096 ± 0.000056
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 45.46 ± 2.83

Note: Values of uncertainties of original/future orbital elements were derived using a swarm of 5001 osculating orbits of VCs (including the nominal osculating orbit given above) for original/future orbital evolution calclulations and then by fitting the distribution of a given orbital element of original/future swarm of VCs to Gaussian distribution.

Original barycentric positions and velocities of 5001 VCs at 250 au from the Sun are given here   (data format), i.e. before entering the planetary zone.

Future orbital elements (barycentric; at 250 au from the Sun)

Epoch (TT) 22921012
time of perihelion passage (TT) 19861115.095110 ± 0.004087
perihelion distance 5.45463641 ± 0.00003115
eccentricity 1.00003125 ± 0.00001546
argument of perihelion [deg] 16.842456 ± 0.000555
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 268.319709 ± 0.000078
inclination [deg] 132.491937 ± 0.000056
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] -5.73 ± 2.83


Future barycentric positions and velocities of 5001 VCs at 250 au from the Sun are given here   (data format), i.e. after leaving the planetary zone.





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