C/2011 L6 Boattini

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C/2011 L6 Boattini

General description

Comet C/2011 L6 was discovered almost four months after perihelion passage and next observed 0.91 yr in a range of heliocentric distances from 6.84 au to 7.42 au.

Comet had its closest approach to Earth on 14 May 2011 (5.819 au, two weeks before discovery).

C/2011 L6 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 C2011L6A1-001

Comet C/2011 L6 Boattini

number of observations	56
number of residuals	112
data interval	2011 May 28 — 2012 Apr. 24
rms [arcsec]	0.59
orbit quality class	1b

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT)	20110208.0	= JD 2455600.5
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20110122.922674	± 0.046001
perihelion distance	6.78778738	± 0.00012531
eccentricity	1.00302592	± 0.00006883
argument of perihelion [deg]	331.611992	± 0.003903
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	214.483687	± 0.000242
inclination [deg]	171.455846	± 0.000132
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	-445.79	± 10.13

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/2011 L6. 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)	17010812
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20110121.346133	± 0.046342
perihelion distance	6.78832443	± 0.00012547
eccentricity	0.99927158	± 0.00006839
argument of perihelion [deg]	331.438066	± 0.003937
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	214.387264	± 0.000241
inclination [deg]	171.448835	± 0.000133
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	107.30	± 10.07

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/2011 L6. 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)	23190813
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20110120.023065	± 0.046173
perihelion distance	6.78663579	± 0.00012631
eccentricity	0.99979940	± 0.00006842
argument of perihelion [deg]	331.465527	± 0.003934
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	214.505370	± 0.000241
inclination [deg]	171.448082	± 0.000133
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	29.56	± 10.08