Solar System
Dynamics &
Planetology
Group 		C/2002 J5 LINEAR




data set of C/2002 J5

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General description

C/2002 J5 was discovered on 15 May 2002 by the LINEAR as an apparently asteroidal object. Next day, its cometary apperance was reported by M. Tichy and M. Kocer from Klet [IAUC 7904, 2002 May 18]. Later, pre-discovery detections (from August 2001) by LINEAR and AMOS were found.

This comet made its closest approach to Earth on 19 June 2003 (5.233 au), three months before perihelion.

Solution given below is based on data span over 4.6 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 7.87 au – 5.727 au (perihelion) – 8.44 au.

Comet suffered a very slight 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 C2002J5A2-001

Comet C/2002 J5 LINEAR

number of observations 618
number of residuals 1227
data interval 2001 Aug. 6 — 2006 Mar. 5
rms [arcsec] 0.53
orbit quality class 1a+

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT) 20031008.0 = JD 2452920.5
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20030919.309165 ± 0.000422
perihelion distance 5.72679475 ± 0.00000292
eccentricity 1.00116654 ± 0.00000388
argument of perihelion [deg] 74.832954 ± 0.000039
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 314.110065 ± 0.000013
inclination [deg] 117.228214 ± 0.000007
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] -203.70 ± 0.68

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

data set of C/2002 J5

Figure caption: Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of original swarm (5001 VCs) of C/2002 J5. 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) 16960906
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20030919.798348 ± 0.000416
perihelion distance 5.72509311 ± 0.00000298
eccentricity 0.99966097 ± 0.00000388
argument of perihelion [deg] 74.902635 ± 0.000039
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 314.051668 ± 0.000013
inclination [deg] 117.213649 ± 0.000007
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 59.22 ± 0.68

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) 23100422
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20030920.575808 ± 0.000426
perihelion distance 5.73013639 ± 0.00000291
eccentricity 0.99992376 ± 0.00000388
argument of perihelion [deg] 74.912592 ± 0.000039
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 314.086941 ± 0.000013
inclination [deg] 117.190377 ± 0.000007
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 13.30 ± 0.68


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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