C/2012 A2 (LINEAR)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2012 A2 (LINEAR)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2012-11-05T02:25:12.688320Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:31:59Z
Obs used 2643
NEO -
M1 10.600
K1 5.500
PC -
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2012-12-02.0000000
e 0.99638777
q (au) 3.537475
a (au) 979.305586
i (deg) 125.868477
Ω (om, deg) 191.404772
ω (w, deg) 101.672043
M (ma, deg) 0.000865

Magnitude

C/2012 A2 (LINEAR) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (8.126 + 3.455\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 8.126
n 3.455
gf 1.000
gb -0.897
k 0.999
δ90 10.000
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

Residuals (Piecewise)

$$\epsilon = a \log_{10} r_{\mathrm{au}} + b$$

Start (UTC) End (UTC) a b
2011-04-02 2012-11-04 +17.9825 -10.877
2012-11-06 2013-09-27 -3.7538 +1.934
2013-09-27 2014-04-15 -2.2574 +1.298
2014-04-15 2014-10-23 +11.5349 -9.101

log10 r = log10(heliocentric distance / AU), Δ = geocentric distance (AU)

Ephemeris

Date/Time (UTC) RA (J2000) Dec (J2000) Nearest HIP Dist from HIP (arcmin)
2026-05-12 00:00 23:35:28.59 -52:52:55.2 HIP 116500 27.67
2026-05-12 12:00 23:35:31.70 -52:53:32.0 HIP 116500 28.11
2026-05-13 00:00 23:35:34.76 -52:54:09.1 HIP 116500 28.57
2026-05-13 12:00 23:35:37.79 -52:54:46.5 HIP 116500 29.04
2026-05-14 00:00 23:35:40.77 -52:55:24.2 HIP 116500 29.54
2026-05-14 12:00 23:35:43.71 -52:56:02.3 HIP 116500 30.06
2026-05-15 00:00 23:35:46.60 -52:56:40.7 HIP 116500 30.59
2026-05-15 12:00 23:35:49.45 -52:57:19.4 HIP 116500 31.14
2026-05-16 00:00 23:35:52.26 -52:57:58.5 HIP 116500 31.71
2026-05-16 12:00 23:35:55.02 -52:58:37.8 HIP 116500 32.29
2026-05-17 00:00 23:35:57.73 -52:59:17.5 HIP 116500 32.88
2026-05-17 12:00 23:36:00.41 -52:59:57.5 HIP 116500 33.49
2026-05-18 00:00 23:36:03.03 -53:00:37.7 HIP 116500 34.11
2026-05-18 12:00 23:36:05.61 -53:01:18.3 HIP 116500 34.75
2026-05-19 00:00 23:36:08.15 -53:01:59.2 HIP 116500 35.39
2026-05-19 12:00 23:36:10.64 -53:02:40.4 HIP 116729 35.33
2026-05-20 00:00 23:36:13.08 -53:03:21.9 HIP 116729 34.62
2026-05-20 12:00 23:36:15.48 -53:04:03.7 HIP 116729 33.93
2026-05-21 00:00 23:36:17.83 -53:04:45.8 HIP 116729 33.24
2026-05-21 12:00 23:36:20.13 -53:05:28.2 HIP 116729 32.56
2026-05-22 00:00 23:36:22.39 -53:06:10.8 HIP 116729 31.89
2026-05-22 12:00 23:36:24.60 -53:06:53.8 HIP 116729 31.23
2026-05-23 00:00 23:36:26.76 -53:07:37.0 HIP 116729 30.58
2026-05-23 12:00 23:36:28.87 -53:08:20.5 HIP 116729 29.93
2026-05-24 00:00 23:36:30.94 -53:09:04.3 HIP 116729 29.30
2026-05-24 12:00 23:36:32.96 -53:09:48.4 HIP 116729 28.69
2026-05-25 00:00 23:36:34.93 -53:10:32.7 HIP 116729 28.08
2026-05-25 12:00 23:36:36.85 -53:11:17.3 HIP 116729 27.49
2026-05-26 00:00 23:36:38.73 -53:12:02.2 HIP 116729 26.92
2026-05-26 12:00 23:36:40.55 -53:12:47.3 HIP 116729 26.36
2026-05-27 00:00 23:36:42.33 -53:13:32.7 HIP 116729 25.82
2026-05-27 12:00 23:36:44.06 -53:14:18.3 HIP 116729 25.30
2026-05-28 00:00 23:36:45.74 -53:15:04.2 HIP 116729 24.80
2026-05-28 12:00 23:36:47.37 -53:15:50.4 HIP 116729 24.32
2026-05-29 00:00 23:36:48.95 -53:16:36.8 HIP 116729 23.87
2026-05-29 12:00 23:36:50.48 -53:17:23.5 HIP 116729 23.44
2026-05-30 00:00 23:36:51.96 -53:18:10.4 HIP 116729 23.04
2026-05-30 12:00 23:36:53.39 -53:18:57.5 HIP 116729 22.66
2026-05-31 00:00 23:36:54.78 -53:19:44.9 HIP 116729 22.32
2026-05-31 12:00 23:36:56.11 -53:20:32.5 HIP 116729 22.01
2026-06-01 00:00 23:36:57.39 -53:21:20.3 HIP 116729 21.73
2026-06-01 12:00 23:36:58.62 -53:22:08.4 HIP 116729 21.49
2026-06-02 00:00 23:36:59.80 -53:22:56.7 HIP 116729 21.29