[IAUC] CBET 2714: 20110507 : COMET C/2011 J2 (LINEAR)

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                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 2714
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/2011 J2 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the LINEAR survey (discovery
observation tabulated below), and posted on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP
webpage, has been found by other CCD astrometrists to show cometary appearance.
Juan Lacruz (Madrid, Spain) writes that sixty stacked 30-s images taken with a
0.40-m reflector at La Canada on May 5.9 UT show a diffuse object about 10"
wide that is slightly elongated toward the southeast (but no distinct tail).
H. Sato (Tokyo, Japan) notes that images taken remotely with a 0.43-m f/6.8
reflector at the RAS Observatory near Nerpio, Spain, on May 5.9 show the object
to be elongated; additional images taken remotely by Sato on May 6.2 with a
0.50-m f/4.5 reflector at the RAS Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A., show a
coma diameter of about 8" and a hint of a fan-like tail extending 10" eastwards.
R. Holmes (Ashmore, IL, USA) reports that co-added images taken by T. Linder, V.
Hoette, and himself with a 0.41-m f/11 Ritchey-Chretien telescope at Cerro
Tololo on May 6.0 in 1".5 seeing show the object to be diffuse with a coma
diameter of 7".1, elongated in p.a. 73 degrees.  J. V. Scotti (Lunar and
Planetary Laboratory) finds a coma diameter of 11" and a faint 0'.18 tail in
p.a. 135 deg on six co-added frames taken on May 6.2 with the Spacewatch 1.8-m
f/2.7 reflector.  R-band CCD frames taken by W. H. Ryan and E. V. Ryan on May
7.12-7.15 with the Magdalena Ridge Observatory 2.4-m f/8.9 reflector show a
distinct coma (total mag 19.1) with a tail in p.a. about 135 deg.

     2011 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     May   4.18905   10 50 06.11   - 8 27 24.5   19.7   LINEAR

The available astrometry (including prediscovery Catalina observations from
Mar. 10 and 25, found by the MPC staff after posting on the NEOCP), the
following parabolic orbital elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris
appear on MPEC 2011-J31.

     T = 2013 Dec. 23.1878 TT         Peri. =  85.6215
                                      Node  = 163.9956  2000.0
     q = 3.416777 AU                  Incl. = 122.6925


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2011 CBAT
2011 May 7                       (CBET 2714)              Daniel W. E. Green