[IAUC] IAUC 8912: COMET P/2008 A2 (LINEAR); C/2007 T12-T14, C/2007 U3, C/2007 U4 [25139-2008/05-R1]

[IAUC mailing list]

                                                  Circular No. 8912
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS en CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
CBAT en CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html  ISSN 0081-0304
Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)


COMET P/2008 A2 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the LINEAR
survey (discovery observation tabulated below), and posted on the
Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, has been found to show
cometary appearance on images obtained at Table Mountain:  CCD
images on Jan. 16.24-16.26 UT by J. Young (0.61-m reflector) show a
5"-6" round coma of mag 19.0 and a bright central condensation in
marginal seeing, and a 4" coma is visible on images from Jan. 19.1.
Young adds that the comet has changed brightness considerably,
being at mag 19.5 on Jan. 14, 19.3 on Jan. 18, and 20.2 on Jan. 19
-- though the coma is less pronounced on these other dates (the Jan.
18 images were obtained by D. Mayes).

     2008 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Jan. 13.22223    6 03 22.94   +43 46 02.8   20.1

The available astrometry, the following elliptical orbital elements,
and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2008-B18.

     T = 2008 June 12.932 TT          Peri. = 233.546
     e = 0.59071                      Node  = 315.368   2000.0
     q = 1.30603 AU                   Incl. =  19.260
       a =  3.19100 AU     n = 0.172908     P =   5.70 years


COMETS C/2007 T12-T14, C/2007 U3, C/2007 U4 (SOHO)
     Further to IAUC 8910, additional Kreutz-sungrazing comets have
been found on SOHO website images, as tabulated below.  C/2007 T12
was small and diffuse (mag 7.5).  C/2007 T13 was extremely faint
(mag about 8) and diffuse.  C/2007 T14 was extremely faint (mag
about 7.5) and tiny in C3-coronagraph images, and stellar in
appearance (mag 7.5) in C2 images.  C/2007 U3 was stellar in
appearance (mag about 6) in C3 images, and fairly condensed with a
hint of a thin, faint tail in C2 images.  C/2007 U4 was diffuse and
elongated (mag 7.5).

 Comet        2007 UT       R.A.(2000)Decl.   Inst.  F    MPEC
 C/2007 T12   Oct. 13.579   13 06.4  - 8 43   C2     AK   2008-A50
 C/2007 T13        15.329   13 12.4  - 9 11   C2     HS   2008-A50
 C/2007 T14        15.471   13 14.9  - 9 55   C3/2   HS   2008-A50
 C/2007 U3         24.113   13 37.3  -13 35   C3/2   HS   2008-A51
 C/2007 U4         24.146   13 46.9  -12 39   C2     HS   2008-A51

                      (C) Copyright 2008 CBAT
2008 January 19                (8912)            Daniel W. E. Green