[IAUC] CBET 3021: 20120216 : COMET P/2012 C3 (PANSTARRS)

[quai en eps.harvard.edu]

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 3021
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau en eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat en iau.org)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


COMET P/2012 C3 (PANSTARRS)
     Larry Denneau and Richard Wainscoat, Institute for Astronomy (IfA),
University of Hawaii, report the discovery of a comet in four exposures taken
with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS 1 telescope at Haleakala (discovery observations
tabulated below), with the object appearing slightly soft and slightly larger
than nearby stars of similar brightness, with a hint of a faint tail extending
to the northwest.  Wainscoat and Marco Micheli (IfA) obtained follow-up r-band
exposures on Feb. 16.3 UT using the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on
Mauna Kea, which show an extended nuclear condensation (FWHM = 1".5, vs.
1".0-1".2 for nearby stars) and a tail extending for approximately 12" in p.a.
280 degrees.  After posting on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, G.
Sostero, N. Howes, and E. Guido report that ten 60-s R-band CCD exposures,
taken remotely with the 2.0-m f/10 Ritchey-Chretien "Faulkes Telescope South"
at Siding Spring on Feb. 16.6 UT, show a faint fan-shaped tail nearly 6" long
in p.a. 284 deg.

     2012 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Feb. 15.35211    9 44 25.41   +15 32 40.6   21.6
          15.36598    9 44 25.03   +15 32 44.6   21.7
          15.37984    9 44 24.61   +15 32 48.3   21.6
          15.39382    9 44 24.19   +15 32 52.3   21.7

The available astrometry (including prediscovery Mount Lemmon astrometry from
Jan. 26), the following preliminary elliptical orbital elements by G. V.
Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2012-D03.

     T = 2011 Oct. 11.9930 TT         Peri. = 346.3995
     e = 0.610441                     Node  = 135.5851  2000.0
     q = 3.678429 AU                  Incl. =   9.3850
       a =  9.442538 AU    n = 0.0339681    P =  29.02 years


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 February 16                 (CBET 3021)              Daniel W. E. Green