C/2012 A2 (LINEAR)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2012 A2 (LINEAR)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2012-11-05T02:25:12.688320Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:31:59Z
Obs used 2643
NEO -
M1 10.600
K1 5.500
PC -
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2012-12-02.0000000
e 0.99638777
q (au) 3.537475
a (au) 979.305586
i (deg) 125.868477
Ω (om, deg) 191.404772
ω (w, deg) 101.672043
M (ma, deg) 0.000865

Magnitude

C/2012 A2 (LINEAR) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (8.126 + 3.455\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 8.126
n 3.455
gf 1.000
gb -0.897
k 0.999
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
2011-04-02 2012-11-04 +17.9825 -10.877
2012-11-06 2013-09-27 -3.7538 +1.934
2013-09-27 2014-04-15 -2.2574 +1.298
2014-04-15 2014-10-23 +11.5349 -9.101

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 23:22:12.12 -56:05:44.3 HIP 115486 12.06
2026-09-20 12:00 23:22:05.16 -56:05:56.9 HIP 115486 13.04
2026-09-21 00:00 23:21:58.20 -56:06:09.1 HIP 115486 14.01
2026-09-21 12:00 23:21:51.25 -56:06:20.8 HIP 115295 13.57
2026-09-22 00:00 23:21:44.31 -56:06:32.0 HIP 115295 12.96
2026-09-22 12:00 23:21:37.39 -56:06:42.8 HIP 115295 12.40
2026-09-23 00:00 23:21:30.47 -56:06:53.1 HIP 115295 11.90
2026-09-23 12:00 23:21:23.57 -56:07:03.0 HIP 115295 11.47
2026-09-24 00:00 23:21:16.68 -56:07:12.4 HIP 115295 11.12
2026-09-24 12:00 23:21:09.80 -56:07:21.3 HIP 115295 10.85
2026-09-25 00:00 23:21:02.94 -56:07:29.8 HIP 115295 10.67
2026-09-25 12:00 23:20:56.09 -56:07:37.9 HIP 115295 10.59
2026-09-26 00:00 23:20:49.26 -56:07:45.4 HIP 115295 10.59
2026-09-26 12:00 23:20:42.44 -56:07:52.6 HIP 115295 10.70
2026-09-27 00:00 23:20:35.63 -56:07:59.2 HIP 115295 10.89
2026-09-27 12:00 23:20:28.85 -56:08:05.4 HIP 115295 11.16
2026-09-28 00:00 23:20:22.08 -56:08:11.1 HIP 115295 11.51
2026-09-28 12:00 23:20:15.33 -56:08:16.4 HIP 115295 11.93
2026-09-29 00:00 23:20:08.59 -56:08:21.2 HIP 115295 12.42
2026-09-29 12:00 23:20:01.88 -56:08:25.6 HIP 115295 12.96
2026-09-30 00:00 23:19:55.18 -56:08:29.5 HIP 115295 13.54
2026-09-30 12:00 23:19:48.51 -56:08:33.0 HIP 115295 14.17
2026-10-01 00:00 23:19:41.85 -56:08:36.0 HIP 115295 14.83
2026-10-01 12:00 23:19:35.22 -56:08:38.5 HIP 115295 15.51
2026-10-02 00:00 23:19:28.60 -56:08:40.6 HIP 115295 16.23
2026-10-02 12:00 23:19:22.01 -56:08:42.2 HIP 115295 16.97
2026-10-03 00:00 23:19:15.44 -56:08:43.4 HIP 115295 17.72
2026-10-03 12:00 23:19:08.90 -56:08:44.1 HIP 115295 18.49
2026-10-04 00:00 23:19:02.37 -56:08:44.3 HIP 115295 19.27
2026-10-04 12:00 23:18:55.87 -56:08:44.1 HIP 115295 20.07
2026-10-05 00:00 23:18:49.40 -56:08:43.5 HIP 115295 20.87
2026-10-05 12:00 23:18:42.95 -56:08:42.4 HIP 115295 21.68
2026-10-06 00:00 23:18:36.53 -56:08:40.8 HIP 115295 22.50
2026-10-06 12:00 23:18:30.13 -56:08:38.8 HIP 115295 23.32
2026-10-07 00:00 23:18:23.76 -56:08:36.3 HIP 115295 24.15
2026-10-07 12:00 23:18:17.42 -56:08:33.4 HIP 115295 24.98
2026-10-08 00:00 23:18:11.10 -56:08:30.0 HIP 115295 25.81
2026-10-08 12:00 23:18:04.82 -56:08:26.2 HIP 115295 26.65
2026-10-09 00:00 23:17:58.56 -56:08:21.9 HIP 115295 27.49
2026-10-09 12:00 23:17:52.33 -56:08:17.2 HIP 115295 28.33
2026-10-10 00:00 23:17:46.14 -56:08:12.0 HIP 115295 29.16
2026-10-10 12:00 23:17:39.97 -56:08:06.4 HIP 115295 30.00
2026-10-11 00:00 23:17:33.84 -56:08:00.3 HIP 115295 30.84