C/1999 U4 (Catalina-Skiff)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/1999 U4 (Catalina-Skiff)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2001-10-28T12:49:53.112000Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:30:02Z
Obs used 847
NEO -
M1 10.300
K1 4.500
PC -
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2002-01-01.0000000
e 1.00756946
q (au) 4.915350
a (au) -649.365763
i (deg) 51.925991
Ω (om, deg) 32.286666
ω (w, deg) 77.523394
M (ma, deg) 0.003840

Magnitude

C/1999 U4 (Catalina-Skiff) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (10.223 + 3.448\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 10.223
n 3.448
gf 1.000
gb -0.814
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
1999-09-18 2001-10-23 +6.1426 -5.783
2001-11-06 2004-04-11 +1.9350 -1.506

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

Ephemeris

Date/Time (UTC) RA (J2000) Dec (J2000) Nearest HIP Dist from HIP (arcmin)
2026-09-20 00:00 14:59:59.30 -47:09:11.8 HIP 73556 20.00
2026-09-20 12:00 15:00:01.88 -47:09:05.5 HIP 73556 19.56
2026-09-21 00:00 15:00:04.48 -47:08:59.4 HIP 73556 19.12
2026-09-21 12:00 15:00:07.11 -47:08:53.4 HIP 73556 18.68
2026-09-22 00:00 15:00:09.75 -47:08:47.7 HIP 73556 18.23
2026-09-22 12:00 15:00:12.43 -47:08:42.1 HIP 73556 17.78
2026-09-23 00:00 15:00:15.12 -47:08:36.6 HIP 73556 17.32
2026-09-23 12:00 15:00:17.84 -47:08:31.4 HIP 73556 16.87
2026-09-24 00:00 15:00:20.58 -47:08:26.3 HIP 73556 16.40
2026-09-24 12:00 15:00:23.34 -47:08:21.4 HIP 73556 15.94
2026-09-25 00:00 15:00:26.12 -47:08:16.7 HIP 73556 15.47
2026-09-25 12:00 15:00:28.93 -47:08:12.2 HIP 73556 15.00
2026-09-26 00:00 15:00:31.76 -47:08:07.8 HIP 73556 14.53
2026-09-26 12:00 15:00:34.61 -47:08:03.6 HIP 73556 14.05
2026-09-27 00:00 15:00:37.48 -47:07:59.6 HIP 73556 13.57
2026-09-27 12:00 15:00:40.37 -47:07:55.8 HIP 73556 13.08
2026-09-28 00:00 15:00:43.28 -47:07:52.1 HIP 73556 12.60
2026-09-28 12:00 15:00:46.22 -47:07:48.6 HIP 73556 12.11
2026-09-29 00:00 15:00:49.17 -47:07:45.3 HIP 73556 11.62
2026-09-29 12:00 15:00:52.15 -47:07:42.2 HIP 73556 11.12
2026-09-30 00:00 15:00:55.14 -47:07:39.3 HIP 73556 10.62
2026-09-30 12:00 15:00:58.16 -47:07:36.5 HIP 73556 10.12
2026-10-01 00:00 15:01:01.20 -47:07:33.9 HIP 73556 9.62
2026-10-01 12:00 15:01:04.25 -47:07:31.5 HIP 73556 9.12
2026-10-02 00:00 15:01:07.33 -47:07:29.3 HIP 73556 8.61
2026-10-02 12:00 15:01:10.42 -47:07:27.3 HIP 73556 8.10
2026-10-03 00:00 15:01:13.54 -47:07:25.4 HIP 73556 7.59
2026-10-03 12:00 15:01:16.67 -47:07:23.7 HIP 73556 7.08
2026-10-04 00:00 15:01:19.82 -47:07:22.2 HIP 73556 6.57
2026-10-04 12:00 15:01:22.99 -47:07:20.9 HIP 73556 6.06
2026-10-05 00:00 15:01:26.18 -47:07:19.8 HIP 73556 5.56
2026-10-05 12:00 15:01:29.39 -47:07:18.8 HIP 73556 5.05
2026-10-06 00:00 15:01:32.62 -47:07:18.1 HIP 73556 4.55
2026-10-06 12:00 15:01:35.86 -47:07:17.5 HIP 73556 4.06
2026-10-07 00:00 15:01:39.12 -47:07:17.1 HIP 73556 3.59
2026-10-07 12:00 15:01:42.40 -47:07:16.9 HIP 73556 3.13
2026-10-08 00:00 15:01:45.70 -47:07:16.8 HIP 73556 2.71
2026-10-08 12:00 15:01:49.01 -47:07:17.0 HIP 73556 2.34
2026-10-09 00:00 15:01:52.34 -47:07:17.3 HIP 73556 2.06
2026-10-09 12:00 15:01:55.69 -47:07:17.9 HIP 73556 1.91
2026-10-10 00:00 15:01:59.05 -47:07:18.6 HIP 73556 1.92
2026-10-10 12:00 15:02:02.43 -47:07:19.5 HIP 73556 2.09
2026-10-11 00:00 15:02:05.83 -47:07:20.5 HIP 73556 2.39