C/2012 S4 (PANSTARRS)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2012 S4 (PANSTARRS)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2013-06-28T00:33:42.019200Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:32:22Z
Obs used 924
NEO -
M1 9.400
K1 8.750
PC 0.030
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2013-04-24.0000000
e 0.99998199
q (au) 4.348728
a (au) 241497.706412
i (deg) 126.541334
Ω (om, deg) 173.103524
ω (w, deg) 163.615485
M (ma, deg) 359.999999

Magnitude

C/2012 S4 (PANSTARRS) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (7.720 + 4.989\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 7.720
n 4.989
gf 0.997
gb -0.512
k 0.800
δ90 9.110
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 13:10:12.90 -60:02:57.6 HIP 64314 5.15
2026-03-26 12:00 13:10:04.41 -60:02:49.1 HIP 64314 6.21
2026-03-27 00:00 13:09:55.89 -60:02:40.0 HIP 64314 7.28
2026-03-27 12:00 13:09:47.37 -60:02:30.5 HIP 64314 8.35
2026-03-28 00:00 13:09:38.82 -60:02:20.4 HIP 64314 9.43
2026-03-28 12:00 13:09:30.27 -60:02:09.8 HIP 64314 10.51
2026-03-29 00:00 13:09:21.70 -60:01:58.8 HIP 64314 11.59
2026-03-29 12:00 13:09:13.12 -60:01:47.2 HIP 64314 12.67
2026-03-30 00:00 13:09:04.52 -60:01:35.0 HIP 64314 13.76
2026-03-30 12:00 13:08:55.92 -60:01:22.4 HIP 64314 14.85
2026-03-31 00:00 13:08:47.31 -60:01:09.3 HIP 64033 14.10
2026-03-31 12:00 13:08:38.68 -60:00:55.7 HIP 64033 13.16
2026-04-01 00:00 13:08:30.05 -60:00:41.5 HIP 64033 12.24
2026-04-01 12:00 13:08:21.41 -60:00:26.9 HIP 64033 11.35
2026-04-02 00:00 13:08:12.76 -60:00:11.7 HIP 64033 10.50
2026-04-02 12:00 13:08:04.10 -59:59:56.0 HIP 64033 9.69
2026-04-03 00:00 13:07:55.44 -59:59:39.9 HIP 64033 8.93
2026-04-03 12:00 13:07:46.78 -59:59:23.2 HIP 64033 8.25
2026-04-04 00:00 13:07:38.11 -59:59:06.0 HIP 64033 7.67
2026-04-04 12:00 13:07:29.43 -59:58:48.3 HIP 64033 7.20
2026-04-05 00:00 13:07:20.76 -59:58:30.1 HIP 64033 6.89
2026-04-05 12:00 13:07:12.08 -59:58:11.4 HIP 64033 6.74
2026-04-06 00:00 13:07:03.40 -59:57:52.2 HIP 64033 6.77
2026-04-06 12:00 13:06:54.71 -59:57:32.5 HIP 64033 6.98
2026-04-07 00:00 13:06:46.03 -59:57:12.3 HIP 64033 7.36
2026-04-07 12:00 13:06:37.35 -59:56:51.6 HIP 64033 7.88
2026-04-08 00:00 13:06:28.67 -59:56:30.4 HIP 64033 8.51
2026-04-08 12:00 13:06:19.99 -59:56:08.8 HIP 64033 9.24
2026-04-09 00:00 13:06:11.32 -59:55:46.6 HIP 64033 10.05
2026-04-09 12:00 13:06:02.65 -59:55:23.9 HIP 64033 10.91
2026-04-10 00:00 13:05:53.98 -59:55:00.7 HIP 64033 11.82
2026-04-10 12:00 13:05:45.32 -59:54:37.1 HIP 64033 12.77
2026-04-11 00:00 13:05:36.66 -59:54:12.9 HIP 64033 13.75
2026-04-11 12:00 13:05:28.02 -59:53:48.3 HIP 64033 14.75
2026-04-12 00:00 13:05:19.37 -59:53:23.1 HIP 64033 15.77
2026-04-12 12:00 13:05:10.74 -59:52:57.5 HIP 64033 16.81
2026-04-13 00:00 13:05:02.12 -59:52:31.4 HIP 63678 16.92
2026-04-13 12:00 13:04:53.50 -59:52:04.8 HIP 63678 16.17
2026-04-14 00:00 13:04:44.90 -59:51:37.8 HIP 63678 15.47
2026-04-14 12:00 13:04:36.30 -59:51:10.2 HIP 63678 14.84
2026-04-15 00:00 13:04:27.72 -59:50:42.2 HIP 63678 14.28
2026-04-15 12:00 13:04:19.15 -59:50:13.7 HIP 63678 13.80
2026-04-16 00:00 13:04:10.60 -59:49:44.7 HIP 63678 13.42