C/2015 X2 (Catalina)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2015 X2 (Catalina)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2015-12-20T17:13:10.505280Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:33:18Z
Obs used 43
NEO -
M1 16.100
K1 10.000
PC -
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2015-12-12.0000000
e 0.87907924
q (au) 1.904555
a (au) 15.750441
i (deg) 72.458476
Ω (om, deg) 101.094124
ω (w, deg) 42.018183
M (ma, deg) 359.862546

Magnitude

C/2015 X2 (Catalina) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (18.961 + 2.000\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 18.961
n 2.000
gf 1.000
gb -1.000
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

Ephemeris

Date/Time (UTC) RA (J2000) Dec (J2000) Nearest HIP Dist from HIP (arcmin)
2026-06-01 00:00 19:42:22.57 -42:44:00.5 HIP 97038 10.57
2026-06-01 12:00 19:42:17.07 -42:44:41.2 HIP 97038 11.39
2026-06-02 00:00 19:42:11.52 -42:45:21.9 HIP 97038 12.28
2026-06-02 12:00 19:42:05.91 -42:46:02.4 HIP 97038 13.24
2026-06-03 00:00 19:42:00.26 -42:46:42.8 HIP 97038 14.24
2026-06-03 12:00 19:41:54.56 -42:47:23.1 HIP 97038 15.29
2026-06-04 00:00 19:41:48.80 -42:48:03.2 HIP 97038 16.38
2026-06-04 12:00 19:41:43.00 -42:48:43.2 HIP 97038 17.49
2026-06-05 00:00 19:41:37.15 -42:49:23.1 HIP 97038 18.63
2026-06-05 12:00 19:41:31.25 -42:50:02.8 HIP 96869 18.40
2026-06-06 00:00 19:41:25.31 -42:50:42.4 HIP 96869 17.70
2026-06-06 12:00 19:41:19.31 -42:51:21.8 HIP 96869 17.08
2026-06-07 00:00 19:41:13.27 -42:52:01.1 HIP 96869 16.53
2026-06-07 12:00 19:41:07.19 -42:52:40.2 HIP 96869 16.07
2026-06-08 00:00 19:41:01.06 -42:53:19.1 HIP 96869 15.71
2026-06-08 12:00 19:40:54.88 -42:53:57.9 HIP 96869 15.45
2026-06-09 00:00 19:40:48.66 -42:54:36.6 HIP 96869 15.31
2026-06-09 12:00 19:40:42.39 -42:55:15.0 HIP 96869 15.28
2026-06-10 00:00 19:40:36.08 -42:55:53.3 HIP 96869 15.37
2026-06-10 12:00 19:40:29.72 -42:56:31.4 HIP 96869 15.58
2026-06-11 00:00 19:40:23.33 -42:57:09.4 HIP 96869 15.91
2026-06-11 12:00 19:40:16.89 -42:57:47.1 HIP 96869 16.34
2026-06-12 00:00 19:40:10.41 -42:58:24.7 HIP 96869 16.88
2026-06-12 12:00 19:40:03.88 -42:59:02.1 HIP 96869 17.51
2026-06-13 00:00 19:39:57.32 -42:59:39.3 HIP 96869 18.23
2026-06-13 12:00 19:39:50.72 -43:00:16.3 HIP 96869 19.02
2026-06-14 00:00 19:39:44.07 -43:00:53.1 HIP 96869 19.89
2026-06-14 12:00 19:39:37.39 -43:01:29.7 HIP 96869 20.81
2026-06-15 00:00 19:39:30.67 -43:02:06.2 HIP 96869 21.78
2026-06-15 12:00 19:39:23.91 -43:02:42.4 HIP 96529 21.80
2026-06-16 00:00 19:39:17.11 -43:03:18.4 HIP 96529 20.79
2026-06-16 12:00 19:39:10.28 -43:03:54.1 HIP 96529 19.81
2026-06-17 00:00 19:39:03.41 -43:04:29.7 HIP 96529 18.88
2026-06-17 12:00 19:38:56.50 -43:05:05.1 HIP 96529 18.00
2026-06-18 00:00 19:38:49.56 -43:05:40.2 HIP 96529 17.19
2026-06-18 12:00 19:38:42.59 -43:06:15.1 HIP 96529 16.44
2026-06-19 00:00 19:38:35.58 -43:06:49.8 HIP 96529 15.78
2026-06-19 12:00 19:38:28.54 -43:07:24.2 HIP 96529 15.21
2026-06-20 00:00 19:38:21.47 -43:07:58.5 HIP 96529 14.75
2026-06-20 12:00 19:38:14.36 -43:08:32.5 HIP 96529 14.40
2026-06-21 00:00 19:38:07.23 -43:09:06.2 HIP 96529 14.19
2026-06-21 12:00 19:38:00.06 -43:09:39.7 HIP 96529 14.11
2026-06-22 00:00 19:37:52.86 -43:10:13.0 HIP 96529 14.16