Solar System
Dynamics &
Planetology
Group 		C/1999 F1 Catalina



General description

data set of C/1999 F1

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Comet C/1999 F1 was discovered on 23 March 1999 by the Catalina Sky Survey, 2.9 yr before perihelion passage. In April, orbit determination by B.G. Marsden showed that the object was a long-period comet moving on a hightly-inclined orbit, and allowed to find the pre-discovery observatations in Spacewatch data [IAUC 7148, 1999 April 20].

This comet made its closest approach to Earth on 13 April 2001 (5.534 au), ten months before perihelion.

Solution given below is based on data span over 6.5 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 9.28 au – 5.787 au (perihelion) – 10.4 au.

Comet suffered almost insignificant planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system.


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 C1999F1A5-001

Comet C/1999 F1 Catalina

number of observations 168
number of residuals 330
data interval 1999 Mar. 13 — 2005 Aug. 28
rms [arcsec] 0.43
orbit quality class 1a+

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT) 20020215.0 = JD 2452320.5
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20020213.749973 ± 0.000540
perihelion distance 5.78693483 ± 0.00000227
eccentricity 0.99884880 ± 0.00000334
argument of perihelion [deg] 255.166695 ± 0.000040
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 20.012519 ± 0.000011
inclination [deg] 92.029856 ± 0.000014
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 198.93 ± 0.58

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

data set of C/1999 F1

Figure caption: Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of original swarm (5001 VCs) of C/1999 F1. 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) 16950224
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20020213.923640 ± 0.000557
perihelion distance 5.78838144 ± 0.00000234
eccentricity 0.99978554 ± 0.00000343
argument of perihelion [deg] 255.192725 ± 0.000041
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 20.024735 ± 0.000011
inclination [deg] 91.973855 ± 0.000014
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 37.05 ± 0.59

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) 23081228
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20020214.775850 ± 0.000569
perihelion distance 5.78376567 ± 0.00000235
eccentricity 0.99982188 ± 0.00000343
argument of perihelion [deg] 255.166558 ± 0.000041
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 20.001696 ± 0.000011
inclination [deg] 91.989935 ± 0.000014
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 30.80 ± 0.59


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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