C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2017-05-09T22:39:09.815040Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:33:07Z
Obs used 2826
NEO -
M1 10.700
K1 5.750
PC -
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2017-04-30.0000000
e 0.99727861
q (au) 1.042132
a (au) 382.940360
i (deg) 6.348649
Ω (om, deg) 235.221741
ω (w, deg) 68.192259
M (ma, deg) 359.998692

Magnitude

C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (6.321 + 4.711\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 6.321
n 4.711
gf 0.988
gb -0.804
k 0.997
δ90 9.892
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
2016-02-04 2017-05-08 -1.6785 -0.086
2017-05-13 2018-02-24 -0.6070 +0.658

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 06:49:44.51 +18:32:33.1 HIP 32797 16.85
2026-09-20 12:00 06:49:45.97 +18:32:25.5 HIP 32797 16.82
2026-09-21 00:00 06:49:47.39 +18:32:17.9 HIP 32797 16.81
2026-09-21 12:00 06:49:48.76 +18:32:10.4 HIP 32797 16.81
2026-09-22 00:00 06:49:50.09 +18:32:02.9 HIP 32797 16.82
2026-09-22 12:00 06:49:51.38 +18:31:55.4 HIP 32797 16.83
2026-09-23 00:00 06:49:52.63 +18:31:48.0 HIP 32797 16.86
2026-09-23 12:00 06:49:53.84 +18:31:40.6 HIP 32797 16.89
2026-09-24 00:00 06:49:55.00 +18:31:33.3 HIP 32797 16.94
2026-09-24 12:00 06:49:56.12 +18:31:26.0 HIP 32797 16.99
2026-09-25 00:00 06:49:57.20 +18:31:18.7 HIP 32797 17.04
2026-09-25 12:00 06:49:58.23 +18:31:11.5 HIP 32797 17.10
2026-09-26 00:00 06:49:59.22 +18:31:04.3 HIP 32797 17.17
2026-09-26 12:00 06:50:00.17 +18:30:57.1 HIP 32797 17.24
2026-09-27 00:00 06:50:01.07 +18:30:50.0 HIP 32797 17.32
2026-09-27 12:00 06:50:01.94 +18:30:43.0 HIP 32797 17.40
2026-09-28 00:00 06:50:02.75 +18:30:36.0 HIP 32797 17.49
2026-09-28 12:00 06:50:03.53 +18:30:29.0 HIP 32797 17.57
2026-09-29 00:00 06:50:04.26 +18:30:22.1 HIP 32797 17.66
2026-09-29 12:00 06:50:04.95 +18:30:15.2 HIP 32797 17.76
2026-09-30 00:00 06:50:05.59 +18:30:08.4 HIP 32797 17.85
2026-09-30 12:00 06:50:06.19 +18:30:01.6 HIP 32797 17.95
2026-10-01 00:00 06:50:06.75 +18:29:54.8 HIP 32797 18.05
2026-10-01 12:00 06:50:07.26 +18:29:48.1 HIP 32797 18.15
2026-10-02 00:00 06:50:07.73 +18:29:41.5 HIP 32797 18.25
2026-10-02 12:00 06:50:08.16 +18:29:34.9 HIP 32797 18.35
2026-10-03 00:00 06:50:08.54 +18:29:28.3 HIP 32797 18.45
2026-10-03 12:00 06:50:08.87 +18:29:21.8 HIP 32797 18.56
2026-10-04 00:00 06:50:09.16 +18:29:15.4 HIP 32797 18.66
2026-10-04 12:00 06:50:09.41 +18:29:09.0 HIP 32797 18.76
2026-10-05 00:00 06:50:09.61 +18:29:02.6 HIP 32797 18.87
2026-10-05 12:00 06:50:09.77 +18:28:56.3 HIP 32797 18.97
2026-10-06 00:00 06:50:09.88 +18:28:50.1 HIP 32797 19.07
2026-10-06 12:00 06:50:09.95 +18:28:43.9 HIP 32797 19.17
2026-10-07 00:00 06:50:09.98 +18:28:37.7 HIP 32797 19.28
2026-10-07 12:00 06:50:09.95 +18:28:31.6 HIP 32797 19.38
2026-10-08 00:00 06:50:09.89 +18:28:25.6 HIP 32797 19.48
2026-10-08 12:00 06:50:09.78 +18:28:19.6 HIP 32797 19.58
2026-10-09 00:00 06:50:09.62 +18:28:13.7 HIP 32797 19.68
2026-10-09 12:00 06:50:09.42 +18:28:07.8 HIP 32797 19.78
2026-10-10 00:00 06:50:09.17 +18:28:02.0 HIP 32797 19.88
2026-10-10 12:00 06:50:08.88 +18:27:56.3 HIP 32797 19.98
2026-10-11 00:00 06:50:08.54 +18:27:50.6 HIP 32797 20.08