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Circular No. 8597 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://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html ISSN 0081-0304 Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only) COMET P/2005 R2 (VAN NESS) M. E. Van Ness, Lowell Observatory, reports his discovery of a comet on images taken by himself with the LONEOS telescope (discovery observation tabulated below); the new object shows a moderately condensed elongated coma of diameter 20" with a fan- shaped tail 245" long in p.a. 240 deg. Following posting on the 'NEO Confirmation Page', several other observers have noted the object's cometary nature on their CCD images -- including D. Kyrylenko, O. Gerashchenko, V. Lokot, and Y. Ivashchenko (Zhytomyr reg, Ukraine, Sept. 10.8 UT; 2' tail in p.a. 250 deg); E. Reina Lorenz (Masquefa, Spain, Sept. 11.0; 50" coma and 100" tail); C. Jacques and E. Pimentel (Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Sept. 11.25; elongated coma of diameter 9" x 12" and red mag 15.8-16.1 with a broad 50" fan tail in p.a. 240 deg); and J. E. McGaha (Tucson, AZ, Sept. 11.27-11.29; six 60-s co-added images show a 12" x 18" coma elongated with a narrow, fan-shaped tail 115" long in in p.a. 236 deg). 2005 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Sept.10.40969 2 26 37.95 +28 36 18.9 17.0 The available astrometry (including prediscovery LINEAR observations on Aug. 16 and 31), the following orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2005-R54. T = 2005 Feb. 11.022 TT Peri. = 3.215 e = 0.38393 Node = 312.836 2000.0 q = 2.12818 AU Incl. = 10.246 a = 3.45442 AU n = 0.153512 P = 6.42 years COMET P/2004 FY_140 (LINEAR) An apparently asteroidal object discovery by LINEAR (discovery observation below, from MPS 104067; orbital elements on MPO 66354) has been found by C. Hergenrother, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, to have been consistently non-stellar on individual and co-added R-band frames taken on 2004 May 19 and 20 UT; images taken on 2005 July 5 and 6 with the Catalina 1.54-m reflector failed to show the object for 15' along the line-of-variation (limiting mag V about 22; predicted mag near V about 19). 2004 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Mar. 27.33098 12 37 49.21 - 6 08 44.6 18.1 (C) Copyright 2005 CBAT 2005 September 11 (8597) Daniel W. E. Green
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