C/2021 A7 (NEOWISE)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2021 A7 (NEOWISE)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2021-07-15T07:52:29.438400Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2022-06-28T01:12:46Z
Obs used 295
NEO -
M1 11.600
K1 9.500
PC -
Discovery observation (MPC, UTC) 2021-01-09T02:37:24.384000Z
Discovery magnitude (MPC) 20.00 R
Discovery observatory (MPC) C51 · WISE
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2021-04-15.0000000
e 0.99972271
q (au) 1.967689
a (au) 7096.234707
i (deg) 78.149198
Ω (om, deg) 154.518746
ω (w, deg) 356.065440
M (ma, deg) 359.999849

Magnitude

C/2021 A7 (NEOWISE) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (11.691 + 4.023\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 11.691
n 4.023
gf 1.000
gb -0.500
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
2021-01-09 2021-07-08 -0.1334 -0.114
2021-11-10 2022-06-25 -4.5628 +3.915

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 20:52:38.51 +30:43:28.9 HIP 103015 7.77
2026-05-12 12:00 20:52:37.53 +30:44:40.4 HIP 103015 8.59
2026-05-13 00:00 20:52:36.47 +30:45:51.5 HIP 103015 9.48
2026-05-13 12:00 20:52:35.34 +30:47:02.3 HIP 103015 10.42
2026-05-14 00:00 20:52:34.12 +30:48:12.8 HIP 103015 11.40
2026-05-14 12:00 20:52:32.84 +30:49:23.0 HIP 103015 12.41
2026-05-15 00:00 20:52:31.47 +30:50:32.8 HIP 103015 13.44
2026-05-15 12:00 20:52:30.02 +30:51:42.3 HIP 103115 14.48
2026-05-16 00:00 20:52:28.50 +30:52:51.5 HIP 103115 14.40
2026-05-16 12:00 20:52:26.90 +30:54:00.4 HIP 103115 14.44
2026-05-17 00:00 20:52:25.23 +30:55:08.8 HIP 103115 14.60
2026-05-17 12:00 20:52:23.48 +30:56:17.0 HIP 103115 14.87
2026-05-18 00:00 20:52:21.65 +30:57:24.7 HIP 103115 15.24
2026-05-18 12:00 20:52:19.74 +30:58:32.1 HIP 103115 15.71
2026-05-19 00:00 20:52:17.76 +30:59:39.1 HIP 103115 16.27
2026-05-19 12:00 20:52:15.70 +31:00:45.7 HIP 103115 16.91
2026-05-20 00:00 20:52:13.56 +31:01:51.9 HIP 103115 17.62
2026-05-20 12:00 20:52:11.35 +31:02:57.7 HIP 103115 18.40
2026-05-21 00:00 20:52:09.07 +31:04:03.2 HIP 103115 19.23
2026-05-21 12:00 20:52:06.70 +31:05:08.2 HIP 103115 20.11
2026-05-22 00:00 20:52:04.27 +31:06:12.7 HIP 103115 21.03
2026-05-22 12:00 20:52:01.75 +31:07:16.9 HIP 103115 21.99
2026-05-23 00:00 20:51:59.17 +31:08:20.6 HIP 102876 22.41
2026-05-23 12:00 20:51:56.50 +31:09:23.9 HIP 102876 22.62
2026-05-24 00:00 20:51:53.77 +31:10:26.8 HIP 102863 22.06
2026-05-24 12:00 20:51:50.95 +31:11:29.2 HIP 102863 21.04
2026-05-25 00:00 20:51:48.07 +31:12:31.1 HIP 102863 20.02
2026-05-25 12:00 20:51:45.11 +31:13:32.6 HIP 102863 19.02
2026-05-26 00:00 20:51:42.08 +31:14:33.6 HIP 102863 18.03
2026-05-26 12:00 20:51:38.97 +31:15:34.2 HIP 102863 17.05
2026-05-27 00:00 20:51:35.79 +31:16:34.3 HIP 102863 16.10
2026-05-27 12:00 20:51:32.54 +31:17:33.9 HIP 102863 15.16
2026-05-28 00:00 20:51:29.22 +31:18:33.0 HIP 102863 14.26
2026-05-28 12:00 20:51:25.82 +31:19:31.6 HIP 102863 13.39
2026-05-29 00:00 20:51:22.35 +31:20:29.8 HIP 102863 12.56
2026-05-29 12:00 20:51:18.81 +31:21:27.4 HIP 102863 11.79
2026-05-30 00:00 20:51:15.20 +31:22:24.5 HIP 102863 11.08
2026-05-30 12:00 20:51:11.51 +31:23:21.1 HIP 102863 10.45
2026-05-31 00:00 20:51:07.76 +31:24:17.2 HIP 102863 9.92
2026-05-31 12:00 20:51:03.93 +31:25:12.8 HIP 102863 9.50
2026-06-01 00:00 20:51:00.04 +31:26:07.8 HIP 102863 9.21
2026-06-01 12:00 20:50:56.07 +31:27:02.3 HIP 102863 9.07
2026-06-02 00:00 20:50:52.03 +31:27:56.3 HIP 102863 9.08