[guide-user] Possible Bug in MPCORB read routine?

R. Mark Elowitz Mar 20, 2000

Below is an example output of a possible bug I found when asking for
information on a particular asteroid by clicking on its location on
the starchart. When asking for information on asteroid 2000 AK173 I
not only receive the information as given below from the actual
output given by Guide but also additional information about a
different asteroid, designated 2000 AS99. Is this due to Guide
not reading the MPCORB file correctly? This seems to occur no
matter what asteroid I ask for information on.

2000 AK173 mag 19.1
Period of orbit 4.29 years (1566.7 days)
Perihelion distance 2.16 AU
Aphelion distance 3.12 AU
Orbital elements:
Semimajor axis 2.6399445 AU
Eccentricity 0.1800620
Inclination of orbit 12.1365700 degrees
Argument of perihelion 291.3282700 degrees
Long. ascending node 129.5804000 degrees
Mean anomaly 33.5489827 degrees
Epoch of elements JD 2451600.5 (26 Feb 2000 0:00)
Right ascension: 06h01m28.004s
Declination: N20 13' 32.05"
Mean position at current epoch:
Right ascension: 06h01m28.783s
Declination: N20 13' 32.02"
Apparent position at current epoch:
Right ascension: 06h01m27.735s
Declination: N20 13' 26.90"
Dist from home planet: 2.09887919 AU (313,987,857 km)
Heliocentric position: lon 115.88620 lat -2.91445
Heliocentric radius 2.31349 AU
95.13% illuminated
Elongation from Sun 89.38 degrees (evening sky)
Speed of apparent motion: 48.031"/hour at position angle 74.9
Assumed asteroid diameter 8.3 km

Comments from the MPCORB database:
Designation: 2000 AS99
Absolute magnitude: 14.3
Slope parameter: 0.15
Orbital elements:
Semimajor axis: 2.3330622
Eccentricity: 0.1424361
Inclination of orbit: 7.10791
Argument of perihelion: 251.41049
Long. ascending node: 98.06179
Mean anomaly: 50.26570
Mean daily motion: 0.27657606 degrees/day
Epoch of elements: 8 Dec 1999
25 observations made at 1 oppositions
Orbital arc: 33 days
RMS residual: 0.65
Orbit computed by Williams
Reference: MPC 38875