[IAUC] CBET 3376: 20130108 : COMET P/2013 A2 (SCOTTI)

[quai en eps.harvard.edu]

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 3376
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/2013 A2 (SCOTTI)
     J. V. Scotti, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, reports his discovery of a
diffuse comet with a short tail extending toward the northwest on CCD mosaic
images obtained with the Spacewatch 0.9-m f/3 reflector at Kitt Peak
(discovery astrometry tabulated below).  Scotti's follow-up CCD images (27
stacked frames) taken with the Spacewatch 1.8-m f/2.7 reflector on Jan. 6.4 UT
show a 5" coma and a tail extending 0'.48 in p.a. 294 deg.  After posting on
the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, N. Howes, E. Guido, and P. Phelps
write that six stacked 60-s R-band exposures taken with the 2.0-m "Faulkes
Telescope North" at Haleakala on Jan. 8.6 show the object to appear soft when
compared to nearby field stars of similar brightness, with an elongation
toward p.a. 220 deg.

     2013 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Jan.  6.29011    8 49 26.61   +22 54 38.5   19.5   Scotti
           6.30782    8 49 26.15   +22 54 39.7   19.8     "
           6.32552    8 49 25.61   +22 54 42.0   19.8     "

The available astrometry, the following preliminary elliptical orbital
elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2013-A45.

     T = 2013 May  16.1444 TT         Peri. = 182.7431
     e = 0.573086                     Node  = 348.0592  2000.0
     q = 1.984260 AU                  Incl. =   3.8936
       a =  4.647914 AU    n = 0.0983597    P =  10.02 years


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                         (C) Copyright 2013 CBAT
2013 January 8                   (CBET 3376)              Daniel W. E. Green