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IAUC 8867: P/2007 R1

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                                                  Circular No. 8867
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 P/2007 R1 (LARSON)
     S. Larson, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, reports his
discovery of a comet on images taken in the course of the Mt.
Lemmon Survey (discovery observation tabulated below), noting the
object to have a 40" coma and a very diffuse tail in p.a. about 230
deg.  Four co-added 60-s follow-up images by R. A. Kowalski with
the Mt. Lemmon 1.5-m reflector on Sept. 8.4 UT in good seeing show
a condensed comet 20" in diameter, slightly elongated toward p.a.
about 230 deg.  Following posting on the Minor Planet Center's
'NEOCP' webpage, numerous other astrometric observers have also
commented on the object's cometary nature.  G. Hug (Eskridge, KS,
U.S.A., 0.7-m reflector) writes that his CCD frames taken on Sept.
8.3 show the object to be diffuse with a faint tail in p.a. about
250 deg.  L. Buzzi and F. Luppi (Varese, Italy, 0.60-m f/4.64
reflector) report that their images from Sept. 8.89-9.07 show a
strong central condensation surrounded by a coma at least 15" wide,
with an extension towards the west.  Fifteen stacked 60-s
unfiltered exposures obtained during Sept. 9.03-9.08 by G. Sostero,
E. Guido, and V. Gonano (Remanzacco, Italy, 0.45-m f/4.4 reflector)
reveal the presence of a coma almost 12" in diameter.  C. Jacques
and E. Pimentel (Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 0.30-m f/3
Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector) find a coma diameter of 20" on their
CCD frames from Sept. 9.1.  E. Reina L. (Masquefa, Spain, 0.25-m
f/3.3 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector) finds the comet to be diffuse
with a 23" coma on images taken on Sept. 9.07-9.15.  J. Young
(Table Mountain 0.61-m f/16 Cassegrain reflector) reports that his
images from Sept. 9.24-9.27 show a 8" round coma with little
central condensation and only a hint of some extension 12" long at
p.a. 260 deg.

     2007 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Sept. 4.37126    0 10 49.76   + 1 49 44.7   18.2

The available astrometry, the following preliminary elliptical
orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2007-R36.

     T = 2009 Feb. 22.484 TT          Peri. = 249.888
     e = 0.40046                      Node  = 181.461   2000.0
     q = 3.77499 AU                   Incl. =   9.725
       a =  6.29652 AU     n = 0.062381     P =  15.8 years

                      (C) Copyright 2007 CBAT
2007 September 9               (8867)            Daniel W. E. Green

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