C/2002 U2 (LINEAR)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2002 U2 (LINEAR)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2002-12-31T23:39:13.196160Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:30:22Z
Obs used 372
NEO -
M1 14.300
K1 12.500
PC 0.030
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2003-01-02.0000000
e 1.00004468
q (au) 1.208632
a (au) -27048.498281
i (deg) 59.135691
Ω (om, deg) 38.776625
ω (w, deg) 95.846952
M (ma, deg) 0.000000

Magnitude

C/2002 U2 (LINEAR) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (13.157 + 6.000\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 13.157
n 6.000
gf 0.984
gb -0.818
k 0.997
δ90 9.697
Parameter Symbol Range Description
Absolute magnitude at 1 AU from Sun and Earth H0 -5 to 20 Intrinsic brightness of the comet
Photometric slope parameter n 2 to 6 Rate of brightness change with heliocentric distance
Forward scattering asymmetry factor gf 0.8 to 1 Degree of forward scattering
Backward scattering asymmetry factor gb -1 to -0.5 Degree of backward scattering
Partitioning coefficient k 0.8 to 1 Ratio between forward/backward scattering contributions
Dust-to-gas brightness ratio δ90 1 to 10 Relative contribution of dust scattering to gas emission

Reference: EPSC-DPS2025-160

Ephemeris

Date/Time (UTC) RA (J2000) Dec (J2000) Nearest HIP Dist from HIP (arcmin)
2026-03-26 00:00 21:05:23.13 -77:17:52.2 HIP 104018 15.20
2026-03-26 12:00 21:05:30.89 -77:18:15.2 HIP 104018 14.92
2026-03-27 00:00 21:05:38.57 -77:18:38.5 HIP 104018 14.66
2026-03-27 12:00 21:05:46.18 -77:19:01.9 HIP 104018 14.40
2026-03-28 00:00 21:05:53.72 -77:19:25.6 HIP 104018 14.17
2026-03-28 12:00 21:06:01.19 -77:19:49.5 HIP 104018 13.94
2026-03-29 00:00 21:06:08.59 -77:20:13.6 HIP 104018 13.73
2026-03-29 12:00 21:06:15.91 -77:20:37.9 HIP 104018 13.54
2026-03-30 00:00 21:06:23.16 -77:21:02.4 HIP 104018 13.36
2026-03-30 12:00 21:06:30.34 -77:21:27.1 HIP 104018 13.20
2026-03-31 00:00 21:06:37.45 -77:21:52.0 HIP 104018 13.06
2026-03-31 12:00 21:06:44.48 -77:22:17.1 HIP 104018 12.94
2026-04-01 00:00 21:06:51.44 -77:22:42.4 HIP 104018 12.83
2026-04-01 12:00 21:06:58.32 -77:23:07.8 HIP 104018 12.74
2026-04-02 00:00 21:07:05.13 -77:23:33.5 HIP 104018 12.67
2026-04-02 12:00 21:07:11.86 -77:23:59.4 HIP 104018 12.63
2026-04-03 00:00 21:07:18.52 -77:24:25.5 HIP 104018 12.60
2026-04-03 12:00 21:07:25.10 -77:24:51.7 HIP 104018 12.59
2026-04-04 00:00 21:07:31.60 -77:25:18.2 HIP 104018 12.60
2026-04-04 12:00 21:07:38.02 -77:25:44.8 HIP 104018 12.63
2026-04-05 00:00 21:07:44.37 -77:26:11.6 HIP 104018 12.68
2026-04-05 12:00 21:07:50.64 -77:26:38.7 HIP 104018 12.75
2026-04-06 00:00 21:07:56.82 -77:27:05.8 HIP 104018 12.83
2026-04-06 12:00 21:08:02.93 -77:27:33.2 HIP 104018 12.94
2026-04-07 00:00 21:08:08.96 -77:28:00.8 HIP 104018 13.06
2026-04-07 12:00 21:08:14.91 -77:28:28.5 HIP 104018 13.21
2026-04-08 00:00 21:08:20.77 -77:28:56.4 HIP 104018 13.36
2026-04-08 12:00 21:08:26.56 -77:29:24.5 HIP 104018 13.54
2026-04-09 00:00 21:08:32.26 -77:29:52.7 HIP 104018 13.73
2026-04-09 12:00 21:08:37.88 -77:30:21.1 HIP 104018 13.93
2026-04-10 00:00 21:08:43.42 -77:30:49.7 HIP 104018 14.15
2026-04-10 12:00 21:08:48.87 -77:31:18.5 HIP 104018 14.38
2026-04-11 00:00 21:08:54.24 -77:31:47.4 HIP 104018 14.63
2026-04-11 12:00 21:08:59.53 -77:32:16.5 HIP 104018 14.89
2026-04-12 00:00 21:09:04.73 -77:32:45.8 HIP 104018 15.16
2026-04-12 12:00 21:09:09.84 -77:33:15.2 HIP 104018 15.44
2026-04-13 00:00 21:09:14.87 -77:33:44.7 HIP 104691 15.70
2026-04-13 12:00 21:09:19.81 -77:34:14.5 HIP 104691 15.15
2026-04-14 00:00 21:09:24.67 -77:34:44.4 HIP 104691 14.60
2026-04-14 12:00 21:09:29.43 -77:35:14.4 HIP 104691 14.05
2026-04-15 00:00 21:09:34.11 -77:35:44.6 HIP 104691 13.51
2026-04-15 12:00 21:09:38.70 -77:36:14.9 HIP 104691 12.97
2026-04-16 00:00 21:09:43.20 -77:36:45.4 HIP 104691 12.44