C/2020 O2 (Amaral)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2020 O2 (Amaral)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2021-08-28T14:45:24.552000Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2024-05-14T12:42:17Z
Obs used 1595
NEO -
M1 5.900
K1 10.500
PC 0.030
Discovery observation (MPC, UTC) 2020-07-23T23:20:29.184000Z
Discovery magnitude (MPC) 18.10 R
Discovery observatory (MPC) X74 · Observatório Campo dos Amarais
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2022-02-27.0000000
e 1.00232543
q (au) 4.862254
a (au) -2090.901073
i (deg) 71.750811
Ω (om, deg) 256.757254
ω (w, deg) 10.309432
M (ma, deg) 0.001880

Magnitude

C/2020 O2 (Amaral) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (4.977 + 4.155\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 4.977
n 4.155
gf 0.986
gb -0.948
k 1.000
δ90 9.957
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
2020-07-23 2021-08-28 +6.9479 -4.707
2021-08-29 2023-09-21 -0.9103 +0.615

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 23:31:47.57 +64:02:14.7 HIP 116197 7.75
2026-03-26 12:00 23:32:11.65 +64:03:06.1 HIP 116197 5.52
2026-03-27 00:00 23:32:35.69 +64:03:58.3 HIP 116197 4.02
2026-03-27 12:00 23:32:59.70 +64:04:51.3 HIP 116197 4.12
2026-03-28 00:00 23:33:23.67 +64:05:44.9 HIP 116197 5.74
2026-03-28 12:00 23:33:47.61 +64:06:39.3 HIP 116197 8.01
2026-03-29 00:00 23:34:11.52 +64:07:34.4 HIP 116197 10.51
2026-03-29 12:00 23:34:35.39 +64:08:30.2 HIP 116197 13.11
2026-03-30 00:00 23:34:59.22 +64:09:26.8 HIP 116197 15.77
2026-03-30 12:00 23:35:23.02 +64:10:24.0 HIP 116197 18.45
2026-03-31 00:00 23:35:46.78 +64:11:21.9 HIP 116648 18.79
2026-03-31 12:00 23:36:10.51 +64:12:20.6 HIP 116648 16.05
2026-04-01 00:00 23:36:34.19 +64:13:19.9 HIP 116648 13.33
2026-04-01 12:00 23:36:57.84 +64:14:19.9 HIP 116648 10.61
2026-04-02 00:00 23:37:21.45 +64:15:20.7 HIP 116648 7.93
2026-04-02 12:00 23:37:45.02 +64:16:22.1 HIP 116648 5.31
2026-04-03 00:00 23:38:08.55 +64:17:24.1 HIP 116648 2.93
2026-04-03 12:00 23:38:32.03 +64:18:26.9 HIP 116648 2.04
2026-04-04 00:00 23:38:55.48 +64:19:30.4 HIP 116648 3.85
2026-04-04 12:00 23:39:18.88 +64:20:34.5 HIP 116648 6.37
2026-04-05 00:00 23:39:42.25 +64:21:39.3 HIP 116648 9.02
2026-04-05 12:00 23:40:05.57 +64:22:44.7 HIP 116648 11.71
2026-04-06 00:00 23:40:28.84 +64:23:50.8 HIP 116948 14.00
2026-04-06 12:00 23:40:52.07 +64:24:57.6 HIP 116948 11.28
2026-04-07 00:00 23:41:15.26 +64:26:05.1 HIP 116948 8.57
2026-04-07 12:00 23:41:38.40 +64:27:13.2 HIP 116948 5.89
2026-04-08 00:00 23:42:01.50 +64:28:21.9 HIP 116948 3.31
2026-04-08 12:00 23:42:24.55 +64:29:31.3 HIP 116948 1.46
2026-04-09 00:00 23:42:47.55 +64:30:41.3 HIP 116948 2.87
2026-04-09 12:00 23:43:10.50 +64:31:52.0 HIP 116948 5.41
2026-04-10 00:00 23:43:33.41 +64:33:03.3 HIP 116948 8.08
2026-04-10 12:00 23:43:56.26 +64:34:15.3 HIP 117069 10.22
2026-04-11 00:00 23:44:19.07 +64:35:27.8 HIP 117069 9.26
2026-04-11 12:00 23:44:41.82 +64:36:41.1 HIP 117069 9.05
2026-04-12 00:00 23:45:04.53 +64:37:54.9 HIP 117069 9.61
2026-04-12 12:00 23:45:27.18 +64:39:09.3 HIP 117069 10.84
2026-04-13 00:00 23:45:49.78 +64:40:24.4 HIP 117069 12.54
2026-04-13 12:00 23:46:12.33 +64:41:40.1 HIP 117069 14.53
2026-04-14 00:00 23:46:34.82 +64:42:56.4 HIP 117430 16.37
2026-04-14 12:00 23:46:57.26 +64:44:13.3 HIP 117430 13.69
2026-04-15 00:00 23:47:19.64 +64:45:30.8 HIP 117430 11.02
2026-04-15 12:00 23:47:41.97 +64:46:48.9 HIP 117430 8.38
2026-04-16 00:00 23:48:04.24 +64:48:07.6 HIP 117430 5.80