How to compute the path 3i/Atlas will take when it passes near Jupiter?

[Julian_M]

https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=3I/ATLAS&view=OPC

Above is Jet Propulsion Laboratory data for 3i/Atlas. How do you compute where in Jupiter it will pass in March 16, 2026? I read it will pass exactly at the edge of the Hill Radius of Jupiter at that time.. So want to compute and verify.

pass

 

[phyzguy]

So the JPL websire you linked says that Atlas-3I will pass within 0.358 AU of Jupiter. You want to independently verify this? The orbital elements of Atlas-3I are given, and the orbital elements of Jupiter are listed elsewhere at JPL. How familiar are you with orbital mechanics and how to plot an orbit given the orbital elements? If you are not very familiar with these things, what you are asking is quite an undertaking.

 

[Baluncore]

You are in for a steep learning curve, but all the code you need is available in SLALIB or PAL.
https://starlink.eao.hawaii.edu/docs/sun67.htx/sun67.html
https://github.com/Starlink/pal
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994ASPC...61..481W/abstract

 

[Julian_M]

Can someone please compute it. I don't know how to use them. If the Hill Radius is 53.5 million from Jupiter. I want to know if 3i/Atlas will pass say 53.55 or 53.45 million kilometers from Jupiter or slightly inside or outside the Hill Radius.

 

[Baluncore]

Can someone please compute it.

NASA has done it already, and the top of a hill is flattish, so non-critical.

You are missing out on the fun of positional astronomy calculations.

 

[Julian_M]

NASA has done it already, and the top of a hill is flattish, so non-critical.

You are missing out on the fun of positional astronomy calculations.

What url can you see the computational detail or NASA mentioning 3i/Atlas going to pass by Jupiter HIll Radius?

 

[Baluncore]

The orientation will not change as it moves through the solar system. The principle spin axis will remain aligned with the fixed stars, like a gyroscope, not with the Sun.

It is unlikely that a spin stabilised body will be stable about its long axis, due to the Dzhanibekov Effect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_racket_theorem

 

[DaveC426913]

Can someone please compute it.

We're not really a service here that way. Ideally, we're more about helping you solve your problem.

Granted, the math computations are outside your wheelhouse, but it does raise the question why the answer is important to you. What can you do with it? I mean, if you're not an astrophysicist.

Are there questions we can answer that don't involve us doing this homework* for you?
* I acknowledge this is not school homework.