501P/Rankin

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation 501P/Rankin
Type P
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2020-12-10T08:39:13.299840Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2025-07-31T16:54:57Z
Obs used 98
NEO Yes
M1 21.900
K1 4.500
PC -
Discovery observation (MPC, UTC) 2024-06-15T10:13:37.545600Z
Discovery magnitude (MPC) 20.90 G
Discovery observatory (MPC) G96 · Mt. Lemmon Survey
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2022-05-24.0000000
e 0.69572032
q (au) 0.680308
a (au) 2.235797
i (deg) 10.104448
Ω (om, deg) 140.492867
ω (w, deg) 52.799047
M (ma, deg) 156.147750

Magnitude

501P/Rankin · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (20.000 + 6.000\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 20.000
n 6.000
gf 1.000
gb -0.852
k 0.990
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
2024-03-22 2024-07-29 -14.2233 +1.816

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 02:02:44.66 +04:45:24.4 HIP 9611 13.47
2026-05-12 12:00 02:03:15.54 +04:47:50.1 HIP 9611 5.64
2026-05-13 00:00 02:03:46.40 +04:50:15.3 HIP 9611 3.52
2026-05-13 12:00 02:04:17.26 +04:52:39.8 HIP 9611 11.08
2026-05-14 00:00 02:04:48.11 +04:55:03.7 HIP 9611 19.05
2026-05-14 12:00 02:05:18.95 +04:57:26.9 HIP 9791 22.74
2026-05-15 00:00 02:05:49.78 +04:59:49.6 HIP 9791 18.56
2026-05-15 12:00 02:06:20.59 +05:02:11.7 HIP 9791 17.35
2026-05-16 00:00 02:06:51.40 +05:04:33.1 HIP 9791 19.67
2026-05-16 12:00 02:07:22.19 +05:06:53.9 HIP 9791 24.53
2026-05-17 00:00 02:07:52.97 +05:09:14.0 HIP 9791 30.74
2026-05-17 12:00 02:08:23.74 +05:11:33.5 HIP 10056 33.01
2026-05-18 00:00 02:08:54.49 +05:13:52.4 HIP 10056 27.95
2026-05-18 12:00 02:09:25.22 +05:16:10.5 HIP 10056 24.51
2026-05-19 00:00 02:09:55.94 +05:18:28.1 HIP 10184 20.05
2026-05-19 12:00 02:10:26.64 +05:20:45.0 HIP 10184 17.27
2026-05-20 00:00 02:10:57.32 +05:23:01.2 HIP 10184 17.93
2026-05-20 12:00 02:11:27.99 +05:25:16.7 HIP 10184 21.70
2026-05-21 00:00 02:11:58.64 +05:27:31.6 HIP 10333 18.37
2026-05-21 12:00 02:12:29.26 +05:29:45.8 HIP 10333 12.45
2026-05-22 00:00 02:12:59.87 +05:31:59.3 HIP 10333 9.92
2026-05-22 12:00 02:13:30.46 +05:34:12.1 HIP 10333 12.94
2026-05-23 00:00 02:14:01.02 +05:36:24.2 HIP 10333 19.02
2026-05-23 12:00 02:14:31.57 +05:38:35.7 HIP 10419 22.35
2026-05-24 00:00 02:15:02.09 +05:40:46.4 HIP 10419 22.95
2026-05-24 12:00 02:15:32.59 +05:42:56.4 HIP 10419 26.05
2026-05-25 00:00 02:16:03.07 +05:45:05.8 HIP 10678 24.27
2026-05-25 12:00 02:16:33.52 +05:47:14.4 HIP 10678 20.23
2026-05-26 00:00 02:17:03.95 +05:49:22.4 HIP 10678 18.80
2026-05-26 12:00 02:17:34.35 +05:51:29.6 HIP 10678 20.51
2026-05-27 00:00 02:18:04.73 +05:53:36.1 HIP 10678 24.71
2026-05-27 12:00 02:18:35.08 +05:55:41.9 HIP 10678 30.38
2026-05-28 00:00 02:19:05.41 +05:57:46.9 HIP 10957 34.54
2026-05-28 12:00 02:19:35.71 +05:59:51.3 HIP 10957 29.37
2026-05-29 00:00 02:20:05.98 +06:01:54.9 HIP 10957 25.58
2026-05-29 12:00 02:20:36.22 +06:03:57.7 HIP 10957 23.82
2026-05-30 00:00 02:21:06.44 +06:05:59.9 HIP 10957 24.52
2026-05-30 12:00 02:21:36.63 +06:08:01.3 HIP 11132 25.72
2026-05-31 00:00 02:22:06.79 +06:10:02.0 HIP 11132 19.71
2026-05-31 12:00 02:22:36.91 +06:12:01.9 HIP 11132 15.35
2026-06-01 00:00 02:23:07.01 +06:14:01.0 HIP 11132 14.24
2026-06-01 12:00 02:23:37.08 +06:15:59.4 HIP 11132 17.01
2026-06-02 00:00 02:24:07.11 +06:17:57.1 HIP 11151 20.76