C/2008 S3 Boattini

Solar System
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Planetology
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C/2008 S3 Boattini

General description

Comet C/2008 S3 was discovered 4.5 yr before perihelion passage and next observed 8.6 yr during ten oppositions in a range of heliocentric distances: 12.4 au – 8.015 au (perihelion) – 11.7 au.

Comet had its closest approach to Earth on 30 September 2011 (7.075 au, almost four months after perihelion).

C/2008 S3 suffered almost insignificant 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 C2008S3A5-001

Comet C/2008 S3 Boattini

number of observations	1953
number of residuals	3888
data interval	2006 Dec. 27 — 2015 July 17
rms [arcsec]	0.42
orbit quality class	1a+

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT)	20060627.0	= JD 2453913.5
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20110603.770782	± 0.000415
perihelion distance	8.01530277	± 0.00000267
eccentricity	1.00360318	± 0.00000250
argument of perihelion [deg]	39.796141	± 0.000025
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	54.922655	± 0.000012
inclination [deg]	162.717969	± 0.000005
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	-449.54	± 0.31

Nongravitational parameters [10^-8 au/day²]

A₁ = 685.490 ± 45.424

A₂ = -221.870 ± 89.191

A₃ = -172.210 ± 18.419

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/2008 S3. 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)	17001029
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20110607.455076	± 0.000424
perihelion distance	8.01572739	± 0.00000262
eccentricity	0.99983185	± 0.00000246
argument of perihelion [deg]	39.923318	± 0.000025
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	54.933200	± 0.000012
inclination [deg]	162.705580	± 0.000005
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	20.98	± 0.31

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/2008 S3. 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)	23220211
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20110607.066649	± 0.000418
perihelion distance	8.01508717	± 0.00000267
eccentricity	0.99973828	± 0.00000246
argument of perihelion [deg]	40.023286	± 0.000026
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	55.007315	± 0.000012
inclination [deg]	162.706674	± 0.000005
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	32.65	± 0.31