C/2006 X1 LINEAR

Solar System
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Planetology
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C/2006 X1 LINEAR

General description

Comet C/2006 X1 was discovered nine months after perihelion passage and next observed 66 days (0.18 yr) in a narrow range of heliocentric distances from 6.43 au to 6.58 au.

Comet had its closest approaches to Earth on 6 September 2005 (5.553 au) and on 12 October 2006 (5.535 au, two months before discovery).

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 C2006X1A5-001

Comet C/2006 X1 LINEAR

number of observations	96
number of residuals	185
data interval	2006 Dec. 11 — 2007 Feb. 15
rms [arcsec]	0.39
orbit quality class	2b

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT)	20061211.0	= JD 2454080.5
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20060305.642806	± 0.362207
perihelion distance	6.12558539	± 0.00108144
eccentricity	0.99939905	± 0.00025141
argument of perihelion [deg]	101.275279	± 0.037106
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	255.247320	± 0.004037
inclination [deg]	42.615407	± 0.001975
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	98.10	± 41.06

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/2006 X1. Each density map is given in logarithmic scale presented on the right in the individual panel. Notice large dispersion of these VCs (poor quality orbit).
The same figure in the new window

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

Epoch (TT)	16961125
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20060305.249803	± 0.355922
perihelion distance	6.12743813	± 0.00106507
eccentricity	0.99886576	± 0.00025284
argument of perihelion [deg]	101.261223	± 0.036510
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	255.291798	± 0.004073
inclination [deg]	42.589967	± 0.001991
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	185.11	± 41.28

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/2006 X1. Each density map is given in logarithmic scale presented on the right in the individual panel. Notice large dispersion of these VCs (poor quality orbit).
The same figure in the new window

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

Epoch (TT)	23130406
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20060305.785983	± 0.355776
perihelion distance	6.12896789	± 0.00106639
eccentricity	0.99998846	± 0.00025272
argument of perihelion [deg]	101.293128	± 0.036484
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	255.265853	± 0.004051
inclination [deg]	42.583280	± 0.001987
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	1.88	± 41.23