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IAUC 8943: C/2008 J4; 198P; C/2008 J3

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 8943
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/2008 J4 (McNAUGHT)
     R. H. McNaught reports his discovery of yet another comet on
CCD images obtained with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope at
Siding Spring (discovery observation tabulated below), when the
object appeared very diffuse with a coma elongated in p.a. 240 deg
and a diffuse 5' fan tail spanning 20-30 deg that curved to p.a.
about 250 deg.  Stacked images from May 11.76 show that a
condensation in the very diffuse coma was elongated along p.a. 240
deg for about 20", with a 2'.2 tail in p.a. 230 deg possibly
curving to the south; stacked images in better seeing on May 11.81
showed the head as a diffuse oval patch with the leading edge
appearing as almost a point.  Additional stacked images from May
12.76 reveal a very diffuse head of size 30" x 40" with a 2'.0 tail
in p.a. 230 deg; the leading edge of the comet is angled, giving an
appearance of just a tail with the brightest part of the comet
behind where the nuclear condensation would normally be expected.
Following posting on the Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, J.
C. Pelle reports that he measured a tail 7' long in p.a. 240 deg
from images taken by N. Teamo (Punaauia, French Polynesia, 0.41-m
f/8.0 reflector) on May 12.6; images taken on May 13.6 showed no
visible condensation, making for difficult measurement.

     2008 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     May  10.79355   23 26 34.26   - 7 36 56.3   16.5

The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic
orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2008-J69.

     T = 2008 June 19.441 TT          Peri. =  93.709
                                      Node  = 289.109   2000.0
     q = 0.44485 AU                   Incl. =  88.396


COMET 198P/ODAS
     Comet P/2006 B7 = 1998 X1 (cf. IAUC 8929, 8930, 8935) has been
assigned the number 198P (cf. MPC 62519).


COMET C/2008 J3 (McNAUGHT)
     Corrigendum.  The information on IAUC 8942 from Pelle was
concerning comet C/2008 J4 (see above), not C/2008 J3.

                      (C) Copyright 2008 CBAT
2008 May 13                    (8943)            Daniel W. E. Green

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