[IAUC] IAUC 8901: C/2007 W3; V598 Pup [25139-2008/05-R1]

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                                                  Circular No. 8901
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
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COMET C/2007 W3 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the LINEAR
project (discovery observation tabulated below), and posted on the
Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, has been found to show
cometary appearance by several astrometric CCD observers, including
R. Holmes (Charleston, IL, U.S.A., 0.61-m f/4.0 astrograph; Dec.
1.31 UT; measurer S. Foglia; five stacked images show a coma
diameter of 6" and no tail); Q.-z. Ye (Department of Atmosphere
Science, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Lulin Sky Survey
0.41-m Ritchey-Chretien reflector; Dec. 2.6; four combined 60-s
unfiltered exposures show a small bright core < 2" in diameter with
a total coma diameter of about 7"-8" that was slightly elongated in
p.a. 90 deg); J. Young (Table Mountain, 0.61-m f/16 Cassegrain
reflector; Dec. 3.3; very round 6" coma with bright central
condensation and a possible hint of a broad, stubby 10" tail in p.a.
190 deg); and E. Guido and G. Sostero (Castellammare di Stabia,
Italy, remotely using a 0.25-m f/3.4 reflector located near Mayhill,
NM, U.S.A.; Dec. 3.5; 60 co-added unfiltered exposures show a coma
nearly 8" in diameter, slightly elongated toward the northeast).

     2007 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Nov. 29.31590    6 09 41.63   +72 37 01.9   19.6

The available astrometry, the following preliminary orbital
elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2007-X13.

     T = 2008 June  2.793 TT          Peri. = 112.585
                                      Node  =  73.074   2000.0
     q = 1.77775 AU                   Incl. =  78.679


V598 PUPPIS
     R. W. Russell, R. J. Rudy, and D. K. Lynch, The Aerospace
Corporation; and C. E. Woodward, University of Minnesota, report
0.8- to 2.5-micron spectroscopy of this nova (cf. IAUC 8898, 8899)
using the Infrared Telescope Facility (+ SpeX) on Nov. 30.52 UT.
V598 Pup was in its coronal stage with no low excitation lines
present.  [Si VI] 1.96-microns and [Ca VIII] 2.32-microns were
strong, along with He I 1.0830-microns and the H I lines.  At
least two of the unidentified novae lines were present (1.55 and
2.09 microns).  The FWHM of the lines was approximately 2400 km/s,
and there was no evidence of thermal emission from dust.

                      (C) Copyright 2007 CBAT
2007 December 3                (8901)            Daniel W. E. Green