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C/2013 US10 (Catalina)
ephemeris date magn radius delta ra dec elong phase PA
Perihelion11 Nov 20156.30.816 AU1.755 AU 14h13m-18°23'12.3°15.0°268°
Nearest approach15 Jan 20166.21.411 AU0.751 AU 13h38m+55°23'108.1°41.5°281°
Today14 Aug 202623.426.618 AU26.470 AU 02h19m+34°32'97.2°2.2°247°
C/2013 US10 (Catalina)- 2026-08-14
astro.vanbuitenen.nl


 
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The interactive orbit chart above shows the comet's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)


Light curve

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the comet's magnitude. Blue and black dots are visual and photometric CCD observations from COBS. This lightcurve is being recalculated every 6 hours based on the available COBS/MPC observations (currently 5.8 + 5 log[∆] + 7.4 log[r]). An additional green curve is displayed when an increase in apparent brightness is expected due to forward scattering of sunlight, which occurs when a dust-rich comet is located between the Earth and the Sun. (See Marcus 2007)



Charts

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the comet over the same period as the light curve. The comet's current position is marked yellow.





The following chart shows the short-term path of the comet in a field of view that is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.




Orbital elements

The orbital elements of C/2013 US10 (Catalina) are: 

    e (Eccentricity)                : 1.0001560
    q (Perihelion distance)         : 0.8156730
    i (Inclination)                 : 148.94170
    Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 186.12950
    ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 340.19080
    L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 203.27794
    B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -10.06913
    T (Time of perihelion passage)  : 2457338.28650

    Epoch                           : 2026 Aug 13
    Reference                       : MPC194135

    Classification(s):              : Nearly isotropic; New (a > 10000 AU)

Ephemerides

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-08-13 00:00 UT   02 19 08.1   +34 31 38    26.493   26.609   95.4    2.2   248   23.4 
2026-08-14 00:00 UT   02 19 05.2   +34 32 09    26.481   26.613   96.4    2.2   247   23.4 
2026-08-14 23:21 UT   02 19 02.2   +34 32 37    26.470   26.618   97.2    2.2   247   23.4 
2026-08-15 00:00 UT   02 19 02.1   +34 32 38    26.470   26.618   97.3    2.2   247   23.4 
2026-08-16 00:00 UT   02 18 58.8   +34 33 07    26.459   26.623   98.2    2.2   247   23.4 
2026-08-17 00:00 UT   02 18 55.4   +34 33 35    26.448   26.627   99.1    2.2   246   23.4 
2026-08-18 00:00 UT   02 18 51.9   +34 34 02    26.437   26.632  100.0    2.1   246   23.4 
2026-08-19 00:00 UT   02 18 48.1   +34 34 29    26.426   26.637  100.9    2.1   246   23.4 
2026-08-20 00:00 UT   02 18 44.2   +34 34 54    26.414   26.641  101.8    2.1   245   23.4 
2026-08-21 00:00 UT   02 18 40.1   +34 35 18    26.404   26.646  102.7    2.1   245   23.4 
2026-08-22 00:00 UT   02 18 35.9   +34 35 42    26.393   26.650  103.7    2.1   245   23.4 
2026-08-23 00:00 UT   02 18 31.5   +34 36 04    26.382   26.655  104.6    2.1   244   23.4 
2026-08-24 00:00 UT   02 18 26.9   +34 36 26    26.371   26.660  105.5    2.1   244   23.4 




    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between comet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between comet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-comet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-comet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km

Orbital elements usually provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Observations contributed by observers worldwide, via COBS (Comet Observation Database) or the MPC (Minor Planet Center)
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.

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