[IAUC] CBET 3290: 20121108 : COMET C/2012 V2 (LINEAR)

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                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 3290
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 C/2012 V2 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the LINEAR survey (discovery
observations tabulated below) has been reported as having cometary appearance
by numerous cometary astrometrists elsewhere after posting on the Minor
Planet Center's NEOCP webpage.  R-band images obtained by W. H. Ryan and E. V.
Ryan (Magdalena Ridge Observatory, 2.4-m f/8.9 reflector; Nov. 7.15-7.18 UT)
show a distinct coma of mag 17.0 and a tail at p.a. about 90 deg.  H. Sato
(Tokyo, Japan; remotely using a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph at the RAS Observatory
near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.; Nov. 7.2) finds a strongly condensed coma 23" in
diameter with total V-band magnitude 16.9 as measured within a circular
aperture of radius 11".4, and a faint tail extending 20" toward p.a. 90 deg.
R. Ligustri (Udine, Italy; remotely using a 0.50-m f/4.5 reflector at the RAS
Observatory near Mayhill; Nov. 7.2) measures a 16" coma of red mag 17.3 on
eight stacked 120-s exposures; his exposures taken with a 0.35-m f/6 reflector
at Talmassons, Italy, on Nov. 7.8 show an elongated coma toward p.a. 90 deg.
Eleven stacked 120-s unfiltered images taken by L. Donato, E. Guido, G.
Sostero, and M. Travagini with a 0.45-m f/4.4 reflector at the Remanzacco
Observatory, Udine, Italy on Nov. 7.8 reveal a compact coma about 10" in
diameter having red mag 17.4-17.7.  F. Tozzi (Lanzo d'Intelvi, Italy; 0.40-m
f/3.5 reflector; Nov. 7.9) reports a diffuse tail on his images.  E. Cozzi
(Mozzate, Italy; 0.36-m f/11 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector; Nov. 7.9) notes
a small coma of diameter about 10" and red mag 17.4 that is elongated toward
the east.  Images taken by M. Jaeger, E. Prosperi, S. Prosperi, and W.
Vollmann (Vienna, Austria; 0.20-m f/2.8 reflector; Nov. 7.9) show a starlike
nuclear condensation and a 20" coma.  Images taken by G. Masi and F. Nocentini
Ceccano, Italy; measured by G. Masi and U. Masi; 0.43-m f/6.8 reflector;
Nov. 7.9) show a clear nuclear condensation and a tail about 15" long toward
the west.  L. Buzzi (Varese, Italy; 0.38-m f/6.8 reflector; Nov. 7.9) reports
that sixty stacked 30-s images show a compact coma 12" wide of red mag 17.1
that is elonaged in p.a. about 90 deg.  T. Lister writes that images taken
with the McDonald Observatory 1.0-m f/8 Ritchey-Chretien reflector on Nov.
8.05 show a coma of diameter 7" x 5".5 extending to the east in 1".7 seeing.
E. Bryssinck (Kruibeke, Belgium; remotely using a 0.51-m f/4.5 astrograph
at the RAS Observatory near Mayhill via iTelescope.net; nine stacked 120-s
unfiltered exposures; Nov. 8.1) finds a coma diameter of about 11".

     2012 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Nov.  5.08380   21 20 00.17   +71 27 19.3   19.0
           5.09852   21 20 00.52   +71 27 07.6   18.9
           5.11311   21 20 00.79   +71 26 57.3   18.7
           5.12782   21 20 01.02   +71 26 45.4   19.5

The available astrometry (including prediscovery observations from the
MASTER-II Observatory, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, on Oct. 30), the
following parabolic orbital elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris
appear on MPEC 2012-V58.

     T = 2013 Aug. 18.2254 TT         Peri. = 217.7779
                                      Node  = 261.6933  2000.0
     q = 1.449637 AU                  Incl. =  67.4378


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

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 November 8                  (CBET 3290)              Daniel W. E. Green