C/2018 A1 (PANSTARRS)

Metadata

Parameter Value
Designation C/2018 A1 (PANSTARRS)
Type C
Perihelion (tp_cal, UTC) 2017-10-20T10:16:17.644800Z
Orbit solution date (soln_date, UTC) 2021-04-15T23:33:39Z
Obs used 118
NEO -
M1 15.100
K1 5.000
PC -
Osculating Elements
Parameter Value
Epoch (epoch_cal, TDB) 2018-02-06.0000000
e 0.90438598
q (au) 2.419351
a (au) 25.303307
i (deg) 53.559981
Ω (om, deg) 336.621053
ω (w, deg) 96.385267
M (ma, deg) 0.840729

Magnitude

C/2018 A1 (PANSTARRS) · Magnitude (Full range)

Scatter + Global Linear

$$ M_a = (16.981 + 2.000\cdot 2.5\log_{10} r) + \epsilon - 2.5\log_{10}\Phi(\theta) + 5\log_{10}\Delta $$ $$ \theta = 180^\circ - \alpha $$ $$ \Phi(\theta) = \frac{\delta_{90} D(\theta) + 1}{\delta_{90} + 1},\quad D(\theta) = k\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_f) + (1-k)\cdot \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g_b) $$ $$ \Phi_{HG}(\theta; g) = \left(\frac{1+g^2}{1+g^2-2g\cos\theta}\right)^{3/2},\quad \Phi_{HG}(90^\circ)=1 $$

Model Parameters

Parameter Value
H0 16.981
n 2.000
gf 1.000
gb -0.738
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)
2026-09-20 00:00 11:59:47.44 -49:48:03.9 HIP 58431 16.12
2026-09-20 12:00 11:59:56.16 -49:48:33.6 HIP 58431 16.56
2026-09-21 00:00 12:00:04.89 -49:49:03.9 HIP 58578 16.51
2026-09-21 12:00 12:00:13.62 -49:49:34.6 HIP 58647 15.49
2026-09-22 00:00 12:00:22.36 -49:50:05.9 HIP 58647 14.04
2026-09-22 12:00 12:00:31.09 -49:50:37.7 HIP 58647 12.60
2026-09-23 00:00 12:00:39.82 -49:51:10.0 HIP 58647 11.17
2026-09-23 12:00 12:00:48.55 -49:51:42.8 HIP 58647 9.76
2026-09-24 00:00 12:00:57.29 -49:52:16.1 HIP 58647 8.37
2026-09-24 12:00 12:01:06.02 -49:52:50.0 HIP 58647 7.03
2026-09-25 00:00 12:01:14.75 -49:53:24.3 HIP 58647 5.77
2026-09-25 12:00 12:01:23.47 -49:53:59.2 HIP 58647 4.65
2026-09-26 00:00 12:01:32.20 -49:54:34.6 HIP 58647 3.82
2026-09-26 12:00 12:01:40.92 -49:55:10.5 HIP 58647 3.48
2026-09-27 00:00 12:01:49.64 -49:55:46.9 HIP 58647 3.78
2026-09-27 12:00 12:01:58.36 -49:56:23.8 HIP 58647 4.58
2026-09-28 00:00 12:02:07.07 -49:57:01.2 HIP 58647 5.69
2026-09-28 12:00 12:02:15.77 -49:57:39.1 HIP 58647 6.97
2026-09-29 00:00 12:02:24.48 -49:58:17.5 HIP 58647 8.32
2026-09-29 12:00 12:02:33.17 -49:58:56.4 HIP 58647 9.74
2026-09-30 00:00 12:02:41.86 -49:59:35.8 HIP 58647 11.18
2026-09-30 12:00 12:02:50.55 -50:00:15.7 HIP 58647 12.65
2026-10-01 00:00 12:02:59.23 -50:00:56.1 HIP 58647 14.13
2026-10-01 12:00 12:03:07.90 -50:01:37.0 HIP 58879 13.95
2026-10-02 00:00 12:03:16.56 -50:02:18.4 HIP 58879 12.53
2026-10-02 12:00 12:03:25.22 -50:03:00.2 HIP 58879 11.16
2026-10-03 00:00 12:03:33.86 -50:03:42.6 HIP 58879 9.84
2026-10-03 12:00 12:03:42.50 -50:04:25.4 HIP 58879 8.61
2026-10-04 00:00 12:03:51.13 -50:05:08.7 HIP 58879 7.51
2026-10-04 12:00 12:03:59.75 -50:05:52.5 HIP 58879 6.60
2026-10-05 00:00 12:04:08.36 -50:06:36.8 HIP 58879 5.97
2026-10-05 12:00 12:04:16.96 -50:07:21.5 HIP 58879 5.73
2026-10-06 00:00 12:04:25.54 -50:08:06.8 HIP 58879 5.92
2026-10-06 12:00 12:04:34.12 -50:08:52.5 HIP 58879 6.50
2026-10-07 00:00 12:04:42.68 -50:09:38.7 HIP 58879 7.38
2026-10-07 12:00 12:04:51.23 -50:10:25.3 HIP 58955 7.43
2026-10-08 00:00 12:04:59.76 -50:11:12.4 HIP 58955 5.99
2026-10-08 12:00 12:05:08.29 -50:12:00.0 HIP 58955 4.64
2026-10-09 00:00 12:05:16.79 -50:12:48.1 HIP 58955 3.47
2026-10-09 12:00 12:05:25.29 -50:13:36.6 HIP 58955 2.75
2026-10-10 00:00 12:05:33.76 -50:14:25.6 HIP 58955 2.83
2026-10-10 12:00 12:05:42.22 -50:15:15.0 HIP 58955 3.67
2026-10-11 00:00 12:05:50.67 -50:16:04.9 HIP 59027 3.11