Electronic Telegram No. 2141
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html


COMET C/2010 B1 (CARDINAL)
     An object discovered by R. D. Cardinal (Rothney Astrophysical Observatory,
University of Calgary, 0.50-m f/1.0 reflector; discovery observation below)
and placed on the NEO Confirmation Page has been reported as cometary by
several observers.  Y. Ikari (Moriyama, Shiga-Ken, Japan, 0.26-m f/7.0
reflector) notes that some of his exposures on Jan. 22.6 UT showed a coma of
diameter 0'.2.  D. Chestnov writes that three stacked exposures on Jan. 22.8
by T. Kryachko (Engelhardt Observatory, Zelenchukskaya Station, 0.3-m f/7
reflector) showed that the object appeared "softer" than the surrounding stars
(FWHM 3".8 for the object, 3".1 for the stars), having a 0'.1-0'.2 coma with a
strong condensation but no tail.  J. M. Aymami (Tiana, Spain, 0.25-m f/4.3
Schmidt-Cassegrain) remarks that 39 co-added images totaling 3900 seconds
around Jan. 22.9 showed a compact but nebulous object displaying what seemed to
be a faint coma measuring 7".5.  L. Buzzi (Varese, Italy, 0.38-m f/6.8
reflector) writes that a quite deep (limiting magnitude 20.5) stacked image
totaling 25 minutes around Jan. 23.9 in very good seeing (but with thin, high
clouds) showed the object to be stellar in appearance, although inspection of
its profile revealed a FWHM some 20-25 percent larger than nearby stars of
similar brightness.

     2010 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Jan. 19.22247   08 12 28.90   +73 42 01.1   17.7   Cardinal

     Further astrometry, the following parabolic orbital elements and an
ephemeris are given on MPEC 2010-B36.

     T = 2011 Feb. 6.708 TT           Peri. = 211.920
                                      Node  = 277.336   2000.0
     q = 2.92257 AU                   Incl. = 101.867


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2010 CBAT
2010 January 23                  (CBET 2141)              Brian G. Marsden