C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2017-05-09T22:39:09.815040Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:33:07Z
Obs used 2826
NEO -
M1 10.700
K1 5.750
PC -
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2017-04-30.0000000
e 0.99727861
q (au) 1.042132
a (au) 382.940360
i (deg) 6.348649
Ω (om, deg) 235.221741
ω (w, deg) 68.192259
M (ma, deg) 359.998692

Magnitude

C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (6.320 + 4.711\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 6.320
n 4.711
gf 0.992
gb -0.804
k 0.997
δ90 9.979
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
2016-02-04 2017-05-08 -1.6782 -0.087
2017-05-13 2018-02-24 -0.6062 +0.657

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

Ephemeris

Date/Time (UTC) RA (J2000) Dec (J2000) Nearest HIP Dist from HIP (arcmin)
2026-03-26 00:00 06:27:28.52 +18:52:43.6 HIP 30773 8.11
2026-03-26 12:00 06:27:28.74 +18:52:49.0 HIP 30773 8.11
2026-03-27 00:00 06:27:29.00 +18:52:54.4 HIP 30773 8.10
2026-03-27 12:00 06:27:29.31 +18:52:59.7 HIP 30773 8.08
2026-03-28 00:00 06:27:29.67 +18:53:05.0 HIP 30773 8.05
2026-03-28 12:00 06:27:30.08 +18:53:10.2 HIP 30773 8.02
2026-03-29 00:00 06:27:30.53 +18:53:15.5 HIP 30773 7.98
2026-03-29 12:00 06:27:31.03 +18:53:20.6 HIP 30773 7.93
2026-03-30 00:00 06:27:31.57 +18:53:25.8 HIP 30773 7.87
2026-03-30 12:00 06:27:32.16 +18:53:30.9 HIP 30773 7.81
2026-03-31 00:00 06:27:32.80 +18:53:35.9 HIP 30773 7.74
2026-03-31 12:00 06:27:33.48 +18:53:40.9 HIP 30773 7.67
2026-04-01 00:00 06:27:34.21 +18:53:45.9 HIP 30773 7.59
2026-04-01 12:00 06:27:34.98 +18:53:50.9 HIP 30773 7.51
2026-04-02 00:00 06:27:35.80 +18:53:55.8 HIP 30773 7.42
2026-04-02 12:00 06:27:36.66 +18:54:00.6 HIP 30773 7.33
2026-04-03 00:00 06:27:37.57 +18:54:05.4 HIP 30773 7.24
2026-04-03 12:00 06:27:38.53 +18:54:10.2 HIP 30773 7.15
2026-04-04 00:00 06:27:39.53 +18:54:14.9 HIP 30773 7.05
2026-04-04 12:00 06:27:40.57 +18:54:19.6 HIP 30773 6.96
2026-04-05 00:00 06:27:41.66 +18:54:24.3 HIP 30773 6.87
2026-04-05 12:00 06:27:42.79 +18:54:28.9 HIP 30773 6.78
2026-04-06 00:00 06:27:43.97 +18:54:33.4 HIP 30773 6.69
2026-04-06 12:00 06:27:45.19 +18:54:38.0 HIP 30773 6.62
2026-04-07 00:00 06:27:46.46 +18:54:42.4 HIP 30773 6.55
2026-04-07 12:00 06:27:47.77 +18:54:46.9 HIP 30773 6.48
2026-04-08 00:00 06:27:49.12 +18:54:51.3 HIP 30773 6.43
2026-04-08 12:00 06:27:50.52 +18:54:55.6 HIP 30773 6.40
2026-04-09 00:00 06:27:51.96 +18:54:59.9 HIP 30773 6.37
2026-04-09 12:00 06:27:53.45 +18:55:04.1 HIP 30773 6.36
2026-04-10 00:00 06:27:54.98 +18:55:08.4 HIP 30773 6.38
2026-04-10 12:00 06:27:56.55 +18:55:12.5 HIP 30773 6.41
2026-04-11 00:00 06:27:58.17 +18:55:16.6 HIP 30773 6.46
2026-04-11 12:00 06:27:59.83 +18:55:20.7 HIP 30773 6.53
2026-04-12 00:00 06:28:01.53 +18:55:24.7 HIP 30773 6.63
2026-04-12 12:00 06:28:03.28 +18:55:28.7 HIP 30773 6.75
2026-04-13 00:00 06:28:05.07 +18:55:32.6 HIP 30773 6.90
2026-04-13 12:00 06:28:06.90 +18:55:36.5 HIP 30773 7.07
2026-04-14 00:00 06:28:08.77 +18:55:40.3 HIP 30773 7.27
2026-04-14 12:00 06:28:10.68 +18:55:44.1 HIP 30773 7.49
2026-04-15 00:00 06:28:12.64 +18:55:47.8 HIP 30773 7.73
2026-04-15 12:00 06:28:14.64 +18:55:51.5 HIP 30773 8.00
2026-04-16 00:00 06:28:16.68 +18:55:55.1 HIP 30773 8.29