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IAUC 8944: C/2008 J5; P/2008 J2

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 8944
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 J5 (GARRADD)
     G. J. Garradd reports his discovery of a comet with a 40" coma
and a broad 20" tail toward the southwest on CCD survey images
obtained with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope (discovery
observation tabulated below).  Following posting on the Minor
Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, C. Jacques and E. Pimentel (Belo
Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 0.30-m f/3 reflector) write that
their CCD images from May 4.3 UT show a condensed coma 30" in
diameter.  J. C. Pelle found a diffuse coma of diameter 20" with a
bright central condensation and a faint tail 20" long in p.a. 220
deg on images taken on May 14.54-14.57 by N. Teamo with a 0.41-m
f/8 reflector at Punaauia, French Polynesia.  R. Ligustri
(Talmassons, Udine, Italy) found a 24" coma on stacked CCD
exposures obtained remotely with a 0.25-m f/6 reflector at Moorook,
South Australia, on May 14.74-14.76.

     2008 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     May  13.73380   22 28 50.70   -42 14 48.1   16.7

The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic
orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2008-J76.


COMET P/2008 J2 (BESHORE)
     Additional observations have shown this comet (cf. IAUC 8941)
to be of short period; the following orbital elements are from MPEC
2008-J68:

     T = 2008 Apr. 24.018 TT          Peri. = 143.165
     e = 0.27988                      Node  =  97.432   2000.0
     q = 2.45485 AU                   Incl. =  10.622
       a =  3.40895 AU     n = 0.156593     P =   6.29 years

     Visual total-magnitude and coma-diameter estimates:  May 7.43
UT, 14.1, 0'.3 (A. Hale, Cloudcroft, NM, 0.41-m reflector); 9.97,
13.0, about 1' (M. L. Paradowski, Dabrowa, Poland, 0.20-m reflector);
12.07, 12.7, 1'.2 (J. J. Gonzalez, Leon, Spain, 0.20-m reflector).

                      (C) Copyright 2008 CBAT
2008 May 15                    (8944)            Daniel W. E. Green

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