[IAUC] IAUC 9075: P/2009 S2; 1999 XY_143, 1999 RY_214,, 2002 VT_130 [XXXXX-XXXX/XX-F1]

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                                                  Circular No. 9075
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
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COMET P/2009 S2 (McNAUGHT)
     R. H. McNaught reports his discovery of a comet (discovery
observation tabulated below) with a suggested westward tail about
10" long on Sept. 20 UT on CCD images taken with the 0.5-m Uppsala
Schmidt telescope; his images on Sept. 24.7 show the object to be
slightly diffuse in good seeing with a several-arcsec extension to
the west.  After posting on the 'NEOCP' webpage, other CCD
astrometrists have noted the object's cometary appearance.  E.
Guido and G. Sostero (0.25-m reflector near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.,
remotely; Sept. 24.4) write that co-added unfiltered exposures show
a coma nearly 10" in diameter, elongated toward a narrow tail about
14" long in p.a. 255 deg.  W. H. Ryan (Magdalena Ridge 2.4-m
reflector; Sept. 24.45-24.48) finds the object to be diffuse with a
faint tail at p.a. about 280 deg.

     2009 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Sept.20.67787    3 33 06.64   -24 36 16.8   18.7   McNaught

     The available astrometry (with Aug. 3 pre-discovery
observations), elliptical orbital elements (T = 2009 June 23.6201
TT, e = 0.470488, q = 2.203599 AU, Peri. = 230.3660 deg, Node =
121.6146 deg, i = 28.4493 deg, equinox 2000.0; P = 8.49 years), and
an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2009-S90.


1999 XY_143, 1999 RY_214, AND 2002 VT_130
     K. S. Noll, Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI); W. M.
Grundy, Lowell Observatory; S. D. Benecchi, STSI; and H. A. Levison,
Southwest Research Institute, report the detection of three new
transneptunian binaries.  All of the observations were made with
the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble Space Telescope.
In each instance, the pair of objects was detected in each of four
dithered, 260-s exposures made through the F606W (wide-V bandpass)
filter.  The companion to 1999 XY_143 (cf. MPEC 1999-Y19) was
fainter by 0.38 magnitude, and was located -0".024 +/- 0".001 in
R.A. and -0".082 +/- 0".002 in Decl., relative to the primary, in
observations commencing on 2008 Sept. 19.1313 UT.  The companion to
1999 RY_214 (cf. MPECs 2000-A26, 2000-T17) was fainter by 1.09
magnitude, and was located +0".053 +/- 0".006 in R.A. and +0".017
+/- 0".004 in Decl., relative to the primary in observations
commencing on 2008 Sept. 20.3703.  The companion to 2002 VT_130
(cf. MPECs 2002-X10 and 2004-B32) was fainter by 0.44 magnitude,
and was located +0".042 +/- 0".001 in R.A. and +0".071 +/- 0".002
in Decl., relative to the primary in observations commencing on
2008 Sept. 21.9111.

                      (C) Copyright 2009 CBAT
2009 September 24              (9075)            Daniel W. E. Green