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Old 22-06-2011, 11:41 PM
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ngcles
The Observologist

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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Billimari, NSW Central West
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Hi Greg,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Bryant View Post
The Minor Planet Centre's orbit for PANSTARRS has e=1 because they solve for e=1 at this time until sufficient observations are available (thus far, the observations still only go up to June 11). The JPL orbit is derived from the Minor Planet Centre's database of reported observations but makes different assumptions.

Greg
Thanks for that -- without knowing the answer, I had a sneaking suspicion that the e=1 was an assumption used in the early orbital calculations and that more observations eventually provide the true figure. Thanks !


Best,

Les D
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