Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 8993: C/2008 T2; P/2008 T3
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Circular No. 8993
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 T2 (CARDINAL)
An apparently asteroidal object discovered by Rob D. Cardinal,
Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, with the University of Calgary
0.50-m f/1.0 reflector at Priddis (discovery observation tabulated
below), and posted on the Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage has
been found to show cometary appearance by other CCD astrometrists.
W. H. Ryan (Magdalena Ridge Observatory, Socorro, NM, U.S.A., 2.4-m
f/8.9 reflector, Oct. 8.38-8.39 UT, poor seeing) writes that the
object appears somewhat fuzzy with an apparent tail in p.a. 315 deg.
G. Hug (Scranton, KS, U.S.A., 0.56-m reflector, Oct. 8.4) finds a
short, diffuse coma extension in p.a. about 300 deg. Y. Ikari
(Moriyama, Shiga-ken, Japan, 0.26-m reflector, Oct. 8.4) notes a
coma diameter of 0'.3. J. Young (Table Mountain 0.61-m reflector,
Oct. 8.5) reports a bright round coma of mag 14.5 and diameter 12"
with a wide, fan-shaped tail spanning p.a. 240 deg (where its edge
is poorly defined) to 330 deg (where its edge is well defined, and
where it extends to 1').
2008 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag.
Oct. 1.16119 7 05 15.37 +80 03 54.8 16.0
The available astrometry, preliminary parabolic orbital elements (T
= 2009 June 16.292 TT, q = 1.22108 AU, Peri. = 214.987 deg, Node =
310.793 deg, i = 56.124 deg, equinox 2000.0), and an ephemeris
appear on MPEC 2008-T88.
COMET P/2008 T3 (BOATTINI)
A. Boattini reports his discovery of a comet in a dense part
of the Milky Way on CCD images obtained with the 0.68-m Schmidt
telescope in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey (discovery
observation tabulated below), with four co-added 30-s exposures
showing a strongly condensed 8"-10" coma and a faint, fan-shaped
tail extending for about 25"-30" and spanning p.a. 105-210 deg;
four co-added 30-s exposures by Boattini on Oct. 8.1 UT with the
Mt. Lemmon 1.5-m reflector show a coma diameter of 9"; the brighter
tail structure in p.a. 130 deg extends for about 25".
2008 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag.
Oct. 7.22226 21 42 00.28 +36 23 55.1 17.5
The available astrometry, preliminary elliptical orbital elements
(T = 2008 Oct. 25.014 TT, q = 1.14631 AU, e = 0.64958, Peri. =
181.311, Node = 204.121, i = 33.040, equinox 2000.0, P = 5.92 years),
and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2008-T89.
(C) Copyright 2008 CBAT
2008 October 8 (8993) Daniel W. E. Green
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