C/2013 E1 McNaught

Solar System
Dynamics &
Planetology
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C/2013 E1 McNaught

General description

Comet C/2013 E1 was discovered 1.2 yr before perihelion passage and next observed two years during three oppositions in a range of heliocentric distances: 8.23 au – 7.782 au (perihelion) – 7.99 au.

Comet had its closest approach to Earth on 28 March 2013 (6.848 au, 2.5 months before perihelion).

C/2013 E1 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 C2013E1A5-001

Comet C/2013 E1 McNaught

number of observations	176
number of residuals	337
data interval	2012 Apr. 2 — 2014 Mar. 30
rms [arcsec]	0.39
orbit quality class	1a

Osculating orbital elements (heliocentric; ecliptic J2000.0)

Epoch (TT)	20130528.0	= JD 2456440.5
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20130612.112069	± 0.005205
perihelion distance	7.78161530	± 0.00001479
eccentricity	1.00232317	± 0.00001157
argument of perihelion [deg]	311.424878	± 0.000340
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	134.028198	± 0.000086
inclination [deg]	158.720554	± 0.000028
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	-298.55	± 1.48

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/2013 E1. 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)	17030223
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20130614.129439	± 0.005264
perihelion distance	7.77948378	± 0.00001514
eccentricity	0.99969113	± 0.00001142
argument of perihelion [deg]	311.468848	± 0.000341
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	133.929667	± 0.000087
inclination [deg]	158.699209	± 0.000028
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	39.70	± 1.47

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/2013 E1. 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)	23240607
time of perihelion passage (TT)	20130614.078381	± 0.005243
perihelion distance	7.78412933	± 0.00001460
eccentricity	0.99933317	± 0.00001144
argument of perihelion [deg]	311.566551	± 0.000343
longitude of the ascending node [deg]	134.036610	± 0.000087
inclination [deg]	158.729812	± 0.000028
inverse semimajor axis [10^-6 au^-1]	85.67	± 1.47