Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams

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IAUC 8838: C/2007 K1; P/2007 K2

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 8838
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://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html  ISSN 0081-0304
Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)


COMET C/2007 K1 (LEMMON)
     An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the Mt. Lemmon
Survey (discovery observation tabulated below), and posted on the
Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, has been found to appear
cometary by other observers.  M. Tichy and J. Ticha (Klet 1.06-m
reflector) find the object to be slightly diffuse on their images
from May 19.97.  G. Sostero reports that 53 unfiltered co-added
60-s CCD images taken on May 20.9 UT with a 0.45-m reflector show
that the object is nearly 30 percent wider than nearby field stars
of similar brightness.  D. Balam, University of Victoria, writes
that images taken by R. Robb with the 1.82-m Plaskett telescope
show a 10" coma on May 24.3, while 21 co-added 360-s exposures with
a Cousins R filter (though marginally transparent sky) on May 25.3
reveal a 20" coma.

     2007 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     May  18.44419   18 23 52.40   +29 28 54.7   20.4

The available astrometry, preliminary parabolic orbital elements
[T = 2007 Mar. 31.686 TT, Peri. = 50.142 deg, Node = 294.669 deg, i
= 108.430 deg (equinox 2000.0), q = 9.24693 AU], and an ephemeris
appear on MPEC 2007-K51.


COMET P/2007 K2 (GIBBS)
     A. R. Gibbs reports his discovery of a comet on Catalina Sky
Survey images obtained with the 0.68-m Schmidt telescope (discovery
observation tabulated below), the object described as diffuse with
a 15" coma elongated 10" in p.a. 110 deg in good seeing on four co-
added 30-s unfiltered CCD frames.  Following posting on the 'NEOCP',
Balam reports that six co-added 66-s images taken (as above) by R.
Robb on May 24.25 UT show a faint coma of diameter 6".3 (FWHM) in
2".1 seeing (FWHM).

     2007 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     May  21.15014    9 36 06.08   +11 14 36.2   19.0

Astrometry, the following orbital elements (including prediscovery
astrometry from May 11), and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2007-K52.

     T = 2007 June  8.744 TT          Peri. = 345.776
     e = 0.67599                      Node  = 189.919   2000.0
     q = 2.26458 AU                   Incl. =   7.612
       a =  6.98924 AU     n = 0.053341     P =  18.5 years

                      (C) Copyright 2007 CBAT
2007 May 25                    (8838)            Daniel W. E. Green

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