Solar System
Dynamics &
Planetology
Group 		C/2010 L3 Catalina



data set of C/2010 L3

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General description

Comet C/2010 L3 was discovered five months before perihelion passage and next observed 2.8 yr during four oppositions in a range of heliocentric distances: 9.92 au – 9.883 au (perihelion) – 11.0 au.

Comet had its closest approach to Earth on 14 May 2011 (9.293 au, six months after perihelion).

C/2010 L3 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 C2010L3A5-001

Comet C/2010 L3 Catalina

number of observations 123
number of residuals 245
data interval 2010 June 15 — 2013 Apr. 8
rms [arcsec] 0.39
orbit quality class 1a

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT) 20101120.0 = JD 2455520.5
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20101110.470765 ± 0.008271
perihelion distance 9.88282514 ± 0.00003420
eccentricity 0.99909456 ± 0.00002132
argument of perihelion [deg] 121.774413 ± 0.000361
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 38.276041 ± 0.000041
inclination [deg] 102.630673 ± 0.000036
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 91.62 ± 2.16

Note: Epoch is given in a format: yyyymmdd.d, time of perihelion passage in a format of yyyymmdd.dddddd.
data set of C/2010 L3

Figure caption: Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of original swarm (5001 VCs) of C/2010 L3. 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) 16950405
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20101109.124557 ± 0.008299
perihelion distance 9.88300606 ± 0.00003365
eccentricity 0.99829287 ± 0.00002097
argument of perihelion [deg] 121.740818 ± 0.000362
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 38.303509 ± 0.000041
inclination [deg] 102.596709 ± 0.000035
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 172.73 ± 2.12

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.





data set of C/2010 L3

Figure caption: Six 2D-projections of the 6D space of future swarm (5001 VCs) of C/2010 L3. 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) 23250712
time of perihelion passage (TT) 20101110.587990 ± 0.008298
perihelion distance 9.88685045 ± 0.00003359
eccentricity 0.99902211 ± 0.00002095
argument of perihelion [deg] 121.787706 ± 0.000362
longitude of the ascending node [deg] 38.299791 ± 0.000041
inclination [deg] 102.577822 ± 0.000035
inverse semimajor axis [10-6 au-1] 98.91 ± 2.12


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.





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