C/2003 A2 Gleason

Solar System
Dynamics &
Planetology
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C/2003 A2 Gleason

General description

Comet C/2003 A2 was discovered almost five months before perihelion passage and next observed 3.2 yr during its four oppositions in a narrow range of heliocentric distances: 11.9 au – 11.43 au (perihelion) – 11.70 au.

Comet had its closest approach to Earth on 14 February 2004 (10.451 au).

C/2003 A2 suffered a minor 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 C2003A2A5-001

Comet C/2003 A2 Gleason

number of observations	149
number of residuals	297
data interval	2002 Jan. 8 — 2005 Mar. 31
rms [arcsec]	0.53
orbit quality class	1a

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT)	20031117.0	= JD 2452960.5
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20031105.810629	± 0.014951
perihelion distance	11.42703480	± 0.00005608
eccentricity	1.00693241	± 0.00002946
argument of perihelion [deg]	346.667136	± 0.000552
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	154.544251	± 0.000153
inclination [deg]	8.061448	± 0.000057
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	-606.67	± 2.56

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/2003 A2. 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)	16870517
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20031104.712566	± 0.015088
perihelion distance	11.42269558	± 0.00005556
eccentricity	0.99952706	± 0.00002901
argument of perihelion [deg]	346.598477	± 0.000555
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	154.566845	± 0.000154
inclination [deg]	8.065737	± 0.000058
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	41.40	± 2.54

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/2003 A2. 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)	23210623
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20031104.299050	± 0.015052
perihelion distance	11.42176039	± 0.00005561
eccentricity	0.99846734	± 0.00002902
argument of perihelion [deg]	346.664908	± 0.000555
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	154.525849	± 0.000154
inclination [deg]	8.068556	± 0.000058
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	134.19	± 2.54