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IAUC 8174: P/2003 O3; P/2003 O2; C/2002 O7

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 8174
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 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://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html  ISSN 0081-0304
Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)


COMET P/2003 O3 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object reported by LINEAR (discovery
observation below), and posted on the NEO Confirmation Page, has
been found to be apparently cometary on CCD images taken by P.
Birtwhistle (Great Shefford, U.K., 0.30-m reflector; very faint
tail about 10" long in p.a. approximately 270-280 deg on July 31.10
and Aug. 2.08 UT; mag 18.1 and coma diameter about 5" on Aug. 2.08),
by J. Ticha and M. Tichy (Klet, 1.06-m KLENOT telescope; diffuse
with a wide tail in p.a. 260 deg on Aug. 3.01), and by J. McGaha
(near Tucson, AZ; possible tail spike 5" long in p.a. 300 deg on
Aug. 3.38 with a 0.30-m reflector; possible fan-shaped tail 5" long
in p.a. 260 deg on Aug. 5.33 with a 0.62-m reflector).

     2003 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     July 30.39211    1 20 09.26   + 3 40 44.0   18.9

The available astrometry, the following orbital elements (which
indicate that the comet passed 0.3 AU from Jupiter in Nov. 1979),
and an ephemeris appear on MPEC} 2003-P25.

     T = 2003 Aug. 13.955 TT          Peri. =   0.662
     e = 0.63956                      Node  = 342.106   2000.0
     q = 1.25725 AU                   Incl. =   8.583
       a =  3.48812 AU     n = 0.151292     P =   6.51 years


COMET P/2003 O2 (LINEAR)
     Additional astrometry, the following elliptical orbital
elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC} 2003-P24.

     T = 2003 Sept. 5.203 TT          Peri. =  32.338
     e = 0.64895                      Node  = 344.685   2000.0
     q = 1.50663 AU                   Incl. =  14.666
       a =  4.29174 AU     n = 0.110855     P =   8.89 years


COMET C/2002 O7 (LINEAR)
     Total visual magnitude estimates:  June 18.96 UT, 12.5 (J. J.
Gonzalez, Leon, Spain, 0.20-m reflector); 21.92, 12.2 (J. Carvajal,
Avila, Spain, 0.45-m reflector); July 17.41, 11.4 (M. Mattiazzo,
Wallaroo, South Australia, 0.28-m reflector); 27.40, 10.9
(Mattiazzo).

                      (C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 August 5                  (8174)            Daniel W. E. Green

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