[IAUC] CBET 2606: 20101227 : COMET P/2002 VP_94 (LINEAR)

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                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 2606
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/2002 VP_94 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object with a comet-like orbit was discovered in
2002 by the LINEAR project (discovery observation tabulated below), designated
2002 VP_94 (cf. MPEC 2002-V70), and observed then for well over two months.
The object was again found by the LINEAR project on 2010 Nov. 15 (recovery
observation also tabulated below).  R. Behrend, Geneva Observatory, and "T3
Project" (http://asteroidi.uai.it/t3.htm); J. Strajnic, Academie d'Aix-
Marseille; and T. Kmieckowiak and twelve students involved with the "Le Ciel
comme Labo" Project in France report that 2002 VP_94 was observed on 2010
Dec. 10.2 UT with the 0.8-m reflector at Haute-Provence Observatory, noting
that a stack of 93 CCD frames representing 8400 s total exposure time shows
that this object presents a faint 25"-long tail in p.a. 240 deg with a
5"-diameter coma; in the R-band, the object varies by around 0.1 mag (the
period being at least 0.4 day).  Following communication from Behrend, H.
Sato (Tokyo, Japan) writes that he obtained CCD images remotely using a
0.50-m f/6.8 reflector at the RAS Observatory (near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.) on
Dec. 26.1, showing a condensed coma of size 10" (red mag 16.3) and a 30" tail
toward p.a. 230 degrees.  Sato, in turn, requested that K. Kadota (Ageo,
Japan, 0.25-m f/5 reflector) also take CCD images, which Kadota did on Dec.
26.6, showing a coma of diameter 0'.4 (total magnitude 16.6) and a hint of
tail toward the southwest.  Also apparently in response to an alert from
Behrend, L. Buzzi (Varese, Italy, 0.38-m f/6.8 reflector) obtained stacks of
CCD images taken under moderate seeing on Dec. 26.7 that show a broad-but-
faint tail at least 20" long in p.a. around 220 deg; a central condensation
is stellar in appearance (same FWHM as nearby stars stars), and there is no
visible coma around it.

       Date UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
  2002 Nov.  5.30894    5 13 12.66   +23 56 39.8   18.8   LINEAR
  2010 Nov. 15.38777    6 02 18.04   +31 10 33.0   18.3     "

New astrometry, the following elliptical orbital elements by G. V. Williams,
and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2010-Y29.

                    Epoch = 2010 Dec. 30.0 TT
     T = 2011 Jan.  4.1417 TT         Peri. =  47.3280
     e = 0.625468                     Node  =  54.1259  2000.0
     q = 1.484387 AU                  Incl. =  13.6819
       a =  3.963311 AU    n = 0.1249156    P =   7.89 years


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
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                         (C) Copyright 2010 CBAT
2010 December 27                 (CBET 2606)              Daniel W. E. Green