C/2007 VO53

Solar System
Dynamics &
Planetology
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C/2007 VO₅₃ Spacewatch

General description

An apparently asteroidal object was discovered at Mt. Lemmon on 11 January 2008 and next was identified by T. Spahr with observations made by the Spacewatch survey of an object designated C/2007 VO₅₃. Later its cometary apperance was reported by several observers [IAUC 8911, 2008 January 18].

This comet made its closest approach to Earth on 25 November 2009 (4.499 au), five months before perihelion.

Solution given below is based on data span over 4.7 yr in a range of heliocentric distances: 8.31 au – 4.843 au (perihelion) – 7.76 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 C2007VOA5-001

Comet C/2007 VO₅₃ Spacewatch

number of observations	712
number of residuals	1396
data interval	2007 Oct. 20 — 2012 July 20
rms [arcsec]	0.43
orbit quality class	1a+

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT)	20100504.0	= JD 2455320.5
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20100426.499302	± 0.000198
perihelion distance	4.84262750	± 0.00000113
eccentricity	0.99972382	± 0.00000169
argument of perihelion [deg]	75.029920	± 0.000023
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	59.736874	± 0.000007
inclination [deg]	86.990322	± 0.000006
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	57.03	± 0.35

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

Figure caption: Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of original swarm (5001 VCs) of C/2007 VO₅₃. 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)	17040508
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20100426.227350	± 0.000199
perihelion distance	4.84064308	± 0.00000115
eccentricity	0.99955267	± 0.00000172
argument of perihelion [deg]	75.075823	± 0.000023
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	59.767764	± 0.000007
inclination [deg]	86.965774	± 0.000005
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	92.41	± 0.36

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)	23160719
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20100425.734230	± 0.000202
perihelion distance	4.84554239	± 0.00000117
eccentricity	0.99941804	± 0.00000173
argument of perihelion [deg]	75.037730	± 0.000023
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	59.726727	± 0.000007
inclination [deg]	86.999341	± 0.000006
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	120.10	± 0.36

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.