C/1902 X1

Solar System
Dynamics &
Planetology
Group

C/1902 X1 Giacobini

General description

Comet C/1902 X1 was discovered on 2 December 1902, almost four months before perihelion passage, and was last seen on 27 June 1903 [Kronk, Cometography: Volume 3].

This comet made its closest approach to the Earth on 18 January 1903 (1.91 au), that is about seven weeks after its discovery.

Solution given below is based on data span over 0.567 yr in a narrow range of heliocentric distances from 3.00 au through perihelion (2.77 au) to 2.94 au.

Comet suffered moderate planetary perturbations during its passage through the planetary system that led to escape the comet from the planetary zone on a hiperbolic orbit (see future barycentric orbit given below)

More details in Królikowska et al. 2014

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 C1902X1A5-001

Comet C/1902 X1 Giacobini

number of observations	735
number of residuals	1307
data interval	1902 Dec. 2 — 1903 June 27
rms [arcsec]	1.66
orbit quality class	1b

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT)	19030327.0	= JD 2416200.5
time of perihelion passage (TT)	19030323.974159	± 0.002541
perihelion distance	2.77348499	± 0.00001328
eccentricity	1.00047034	± 0.00001976
argument of perihelion [deg]	5.830937	± 0.000781
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	118.810872	± 0.000085
inclination [deg]	43.894598	± 0.000258
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	-169.59	± 7.12

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/1902 X1. Each density map is given in logarithmic scale presented on the right in the individual panel.
The same figure in the new window

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

Epoch (TT)	16010128
time of perihelion passage (TT)	19030324.059433	± 0.002493
perihelion distance	2.77648897	± 0.00001348
eccentricity	0.99979445	± 0.00002012
argument of perihelion [deg]	5.819304	± 0.000769
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	118.884571	± 0.000087
inclination [deg]	43.892926	± 0.000261
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	74.03	± 7.25

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.

Figure caption: Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of future swarm (5001 VCs) of C/1902 X1. Each density map is given in logarithmic scale presented on the right in the individual panel.
The same figure in the new window

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

Epoch (TT)	21990801
time of perihelion passage (TT)	19030323.651406	± 0.002537
perihelion distance	2.78159684	± 0.00001339
eccentricity	1.00122340	± 0.00002014
argument of perihelion [deg]	5.932702	± 0.000770
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	118.796694	± 0.000085
inclination [deg]	43.858159	± 0.000262
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	-439.82	± 7.24