Electronic Telegram No. 5094 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams Mailing address: Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University; 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA 02138; U.S.A. e-mail: cbatiau@eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat@iau.org) URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network COMET P/2022 B1 (WIERZCHOS) K. W. Wierzchos, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, reports his discovery of another comet in four 30-s CCD exposures obtained with the Mt. Lemmon 1.5-m reflector (discovery observations tabulated below). The comet then showed a 5" coma with a 13"-long diffuse (and somewhat broad) tail in p.a. 45 degrees. 2022 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer Jan. 25.20862 5 11 00.79 + 8 35 56.3 19.8 Wierzchos 25.21377 5 11 00.90 + 8 35 59.6 19.6 " 25.21891 5 11 01.02 + 8 36 03.4 19.6 " 25.22406 5 11 01.10 + 8 36 06.6 20.2 " After the comet was posted on the Minor Planet Center's PCCP webpage, R. Weryk (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario) informs the Bureau that he identified this comet in images taken on 2021 Oct. 30 and Nov. 8 with the Pan-STARRS1 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien reflector at Haleakala, and with the Pan-STARRS2 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien reflector at Haleakala on 2021 Nov. 4. The Pan-STARRS2 images were too marginal to tell if the object shows cometary appearance, but he notes that the measured magnitudes are so faint that it suggests a cometary-like rise in brightness between November and discovery. On Oct. 30.6 UT, four 45-s w-band survey images show a very condensed coma of size 1".25 (full-width-at-half-maximum) in 1".15 seeing with no visible tail, the magnitude measured as 22.2-22.6. On Nov. 8.5, four 45-s w-band survey images show a very condensed coma of size 1".2 in 1".1 seeing (and again no tail), with magnitude 22.0-22.7. L. Buzzi, Varese, Italy, writes that sixty stacked 60-s CCD exposures taken by A. Aletti with a 0.84-m reflector on 2022 Jan. 25.9 UT show a condensed coma 8" wide with a broad, faint tail 10" long centered at p.a. 60 degrees; the magnitude was measured as 19.9. The available astrometry appears on MPEC 2022-C02. The following orbital elements by S. Nakano (CBAT) are from 62 observations spanning 2021 Oct. 30- 2022 Jan. 29 (mean residual 0".4); they indicate that the comet will pass 0.39 AU from Jupiter in 2046 February. A search of archival astrometry found no observations of this comet in the past. Epoch = 2009 June 18.0 TT T = 2009 June 4.07478 TT Peri. = 325.51062 e = 0.6529270 Node = 148.97238 2000.0 q = 1.8913084 AU Incl. = 10.99020 a = 5.4493107 AU n = 0.07748038 P = 12.72 years Epoch = 2022 Mar. 2.0 TT T = 2022 Feb. 25.35267 TT Peri. = 325.49005 e = 0.6529647 Node = 148.84771 2000.0 q = 1.8967223 AU Incl. = 10.99134 a = 5.4655019 AU n = 0.07713633 P = 12.78 years Epoch = 2034 Dec. 24.0 TT T = 2034 Dec. 21.26409 TT Peri. = 325.93381 e = 0.6531682 Node = 148.76729 2000.0 q = 1.8943008 AU Incl. = 10.99394 a = 5.4617274 AU n = 0.07721631 P = 12.76 years Epoch = 2047 Oct. 17.0 TT T = 2047 Oct. 6.45360 TT Peri. = 326.13851 e = 0.6550718 Node = 144.93960 2000.0 q = 1.9917336 AU Incl. = 9.49085 a = 5.7743420 AU n = 0.07103139 P = 13.88 years The following ephemeris by the undersigned from the above orbital elements uses photometric power-law parameters H = 16.5 and 2.5n = 10 for the magnitudes. Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase Mag. 2022 01 21 05 09.77 +07 49.7 1.108 1.930 134.5 21.3 19.6 2022 01 31 05 13.77 +09 42.1 1.158 1.914 126.4 24.5 19.6 2022 02 10 05 21.37 +11 39.1 1.220 1.903 118.8 27.0 19.7 2022 02 20 05 32.38 +13 33.5 1.293 1.897 111.8 28.9 19.8 2022 03 02 05 46.41 +15 19.8 1.375 1.897 105.5 30.2 20.0 2022 03 12 06 03.06 +16 53.5 1.465 1.902 99.6 31.0 20.1 2022 03 22 06 21.85 +18 11.3 1.563 1.913 94.2 31.3 20.3 2022 04 01 06 42.30 +19 11.0 1.666 1.929 89.1 31.2 20.5 2022 04 11 07 03.99 +19 51.4 1.775 1.949 84.3 30.8 20.6 2022 04 21 07 26.48 +20 12.2 1.889 1.974 79.7 30.0 20.8 2022 05 01 07 49.41 +20 13.7 2.008 2.004 75.2 29.1 21.0 2022 05 11 08 12.48 +19 57.0 2.131 2.038 70.9 27.9 21.2 2022 05 21 08 35.41 +19 23.8 2.258 2.076 66.6 26.6 21.4 NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2022 CBAT 2022 February 1 (CBET 5094) Daniel W. E. Green