C/2018 F4 (PANSTARRS)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2018 F4 (PANSTARRS)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2019-12-04T01:26:15.930240Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2023-04-24T19:06:39Z
Obs used 530
NEO -
M1 5.300
K1 13.250
PC 0.030
Discovery observation (MPC, UTC) 2018-03-17T12:40:26.976000Z
Discovery magnitude (MPC) 20.40 w
Discovery observatory (MPC) F51 · Pan-STARRS 1, Haleakala
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2019-09-20.0000000
e 1.00152144
q (au) 3.439968
a (au) -2260.993631
i (deg) 78.098889
Ω (om, deg) 26.507082
ω (w, deg) 263.204195
M (ma, deg) -0.000688

Magnitude

C/2018 F4 (PANSTARRS) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (5.479 + 6.000\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 5.479
n 6.000
gf 1.000
gb -0.616
k 0.800
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
2018-03-17 2019-12-03 -4.5179 +3.714
2019-12-04 2020-09-08 +3.2670 -2.149
2020-09-08 2021-01-03 +3.3546 -2.816
2021-01-03 2021-11-06 +2.1461 -1.581

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 01:11:27.58 +36:37:22.6 HIP 5595 13.27
2026-03-26 12:00 01:11:34.99 +36:37:59.7 HIP 5595 13.58
2026-03-27 00:00 01:11:42.41 +36:38:37.3 HIP 5595 14.08
2026-03-27 12:00 01:11:49.85 +36:39:15.2 HIP 5595 14.74
2026-03-28 00:00 01:11:57.29 +36:39:53.6 HIP 5595 15.56
2026-03-28 12:00 01:12:04.75 +36:40:32.5 HIP 5595 16.50
2026-03-29 00:00 01:12:12.22 +36:41:11.7 HIP 5595 17.55
2026-03-29 12:00 01:12:19.70 +36:41:51.4 HIP 5595 18.70
2026-03-30 00:00 01:12:27.19 +36:42:31.5 HIP 5595 19.92
2026-03-30 12:00 01:12:34.69 +36:43:12.0 HIP 5595 21.20
2026-03-31 00:00 01:12:42.20 +36:43:52.9 HIP 5595 22.54
2026-03-31 12:00 01:12:49.72 +36:44:34.2 HIP 5595 23.93
2026-04-01 00:00 01:12:57.25 +36:45:16.0 HIP 5595 25.35
2026-04-01 12:00 01:13:04.78 +36:45:58.1 HIP 5595 26.81
2026-04-02 00:00 01:13:12.32 +36:46:40.7 HIP 5595 28.30
2026-04-02 12:00 01:13:19.87 +36:47:23.7 HIP 5595 29.81
2026-04-03 00:00 01:13:27.43 +36:48:07.1 HIP 5595 31.34
2026-04-03 12:00 01:13:34.99 +36:48:50.8 HIP 5595 32.90
2026-04-04 00:00 01:13:42.56 +36:49:35.0 HIP 5595 34.47
2026-04-04 12:00 01:13:50.13 +36:50:19.6 HIP 5595 36.06
2026-04-05 00:00 01:13:57.71 +36:51:04.6 HIP 5595 37.66
2026-04-05 12:00 01:14:05.29 +36:51:49.9 HIP 5595 39.27
2026-04-06 00:00 01:14:12.87 +36:52:35.7 HIP 5660 40.67
2026-04-06 12:00 01:14:20.46 +36:53:21.9 HIP 5660 42.04
2026-04-07 00:00 01:14:28.05 +36:54:08.4 HIP 5660 43.45
2026-04-07 12:00 01:14:35.65 +36:54:55.3 HIP 5966 44.47
2026-04-08 00:00 01:14:43.25 +36:55:42.6 HIP 5966 44.28
2026-04-08 12:00 01:14:50.84 +36:56:30.3 HIP 5966 44.15
2026-04-09 00:00 01:14:58.44 +36:57:18.4 HIP 5749 44.06
2026-04-09 12:00 01:15:06.05 +36:58:06.9 HIP 5749 43.79
2026-04-10 00:00 01:15:13.65 +36:58:55.7 HIP 5749 43.58
2026-04-10 12:00 01:15:21.25 +36:59:44.9 HIP 5749 43.43
2026-04-11 00:00 01:15:28.85 +37:00:34.5 HIP 5749 43.34
2026-04-11 12:00 01:15:36.45 +37:01:24.4 HIP 5881 43.22
2026-04-12 00:00 01:15:44.05 +37:02:14.7 HIP 6140 42.02
2026-04-12 12:00 01:15:51.64 +37:03:05.4 HIP 6140 40.28
2026-04-13 00:00 01:15:59.24 +37:03:56.5 HIP 6140 38.54
2026-04-13 12:00 01:16:06.83 +37:04:47.9 HIP 6140 36.80
2026-04-14 00:00 01:16:14.41 +37:05:39.6 HIP 6140 35.06
2026-04-14 12:00 01:16:22.00 +37:06:31.7 HIP 6140 33.32
2026-04-15 00:00 01:16:29.58 +37:07:24.2 HIP 6140 31.57
2026-04-15 12:00 01:16:37.15 +37:08:17.0 HIP 6140 29.82
2026-04-16 00:00 01:16:44.72 +37:09:10.2 HIP 6140 28.07