[IAUC] CBET 3260: 20121018 : COMET P/2012 T7 (VOROBJOV)

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                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 3260
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 T7 (VOROBJOV)
     Tomas Vorobjov, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, reports his discovery of a
comet on three 120-s images that he took remotely with Alexander Kostin
(Houston, TX, U.S.A.) using a 0.81-m f/7 Ritchey-Chretien reflector located at
the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter via the Sierra Stars Observatory Network (discovery
observations tabulated below) in the course of a minor-planet search survey
undertaken as part of the International Astronomical Search Collaboration
(IASC) school campaigns.  Vorobjov asked R. Holmes (Ashmore, IL, USA) to
obtain follow-up observations the following night, and twenty-four stacked
images taken by Holmes (0.61-m f/4 astrograph; measured by Vorobjov and S.
Foglia) on Oct. 16.4 UT revealed a 6" coma and a tail 25" long in p.a. 260
deg.
     After posting on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, other CCD
astrometrists have also commented on the object's cometary appearance.  Four
stacked 180-s images taken in good seeing by P. Miller, P. Roche, A. Tripp,
R. Miles, R. Holmes, S. Foglia, and L. Buzzi on Oct. 16.6 (measured by Buzzi,
Foglia, and T. Vorobjov) with the 2.0-m f/10 "Faulkes Telescope South" at
Siding Spring shows a 5" compact coma elongated east-west, with a tail at
least 15" long in p.a. 265 deg.  L. Buzzi (Varese, Italy; 0.60-m f/4.6
reflector; Oct. 17.0) writes that stacked images totalling 15 minutes of
exposure time in good seeing (but with passing high clouds) show a compact
coma 5" wide with a thin tail 14" long in p.a. 265 deg.  R. Williams (Sierra
Stars Observatory, Markleeville, CA, U.S.A.; 0.61-m f/10 Cassegrain
reflector; Oct. 17.4) writes that twenty stacked 180-s images reveal a tail
at least 30" long in p.a. 265 degrees and a coma of size 4" x 8" elongated
in the direction of the tail.  H. Sato (Tokyo, Japan; remotely using a
0.51-m f/6.8 astrograph at the RAS Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.;
Oct. 17.45) finds a diffuse coma of diameter 15".  Images obtained by G.
Masi and F. Nocentini (Ceccano, Italy; 0.36-m f/8.7 reflector; measured by
G. Masi and U. Masi; Oct. 17.9) show a fuzzy object about 6" in size.  A.
Boattini (Mount Lemmon 1.5-m reflector; Oct. 17.4) writes that four
co-added 40-s exposures show a very condensed and asymmetric coma (3" by 5")
of mag 19.1-19.5 with a very narrow tail about 28-30" long. Three stacked
120-s R-band images taken remotely by E. Guido, N. Howes, and G. Sostero with
the 2.0-m f/10 "Faulkes Telescope North" at Haleakala on Oct. 18.43 under
good seeing conditions shows a narrow tail nearly 15" long in p.a. 270 deg
with a coma of size 6" x 4" elongated in the same direction.  Erik Bryssinck
(Kruibeke, Belgium; seven stacked, unfiltered, 180-s images taken remotely
using a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph located at the RAS Observatory near Mayhill,
part of the iTelescope network; Oct. 18.3) finds a diffuse coma about 17" in
diameter with a hint of a tail 23" long to the northwest in p.a. 316 deg; he
adds that astrometry was difficult due the lack of a central condensation.

     2012 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Oct. 15.36615    3 31 20.58   +14 55 51.9   20.1   Vorobjov
          15.38666    3 31 20.14   +14 55 46.2   20.4     "
          15.40791    3 31 19.67   +14 55 40.4   20.1     "

The available astrometry, the following preliminary elliptical orbital
elements by Gareth V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2012-U40.

     T = 2012 June 16.5841 TT         Peri. = 174.7685
     e = 0.336050                     Node  = 213.3434  2000.0
     q = 3.785996 AU                  Incl. =  13.5543
       a =  5.702233 AU    n = 0.0723830    P =  13.62 years


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

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 October 18                  (CBET 3260)              Daniel W. E. Green