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IAUC 8802: P/2006 XG_16; Sats OF NEPTUNE; C/2006 P1

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                                                  Circular No. 8802
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/2006 XG_16 (SPACEWATCH)
     C. W. Hergenrother, University of Arizona, informs us that R-
band images taken with the Catalina 1.54-m telescope show the
Spacewatch discovery 2006 XG_16 (cf. MPS 192606, 195581; MPO 113007;
discovery observation below) to be a comet.  It was suspected to be
cometary on images taken on 2007 Jan. 27.19 UT in poor seeing.
Co-added 600-s R-band exposures in excellent seeing on Jan. 28.19
show the object at R = 18.2 with a coma 9" in diameter and a tail
20" long in p.a. 135 deg.

     2006 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.
     Dec. 10.41280    7 31 13.50   +26 37 28.7

The following orbital elements (together with the Jan. 27-28
astrometry, full residuals, and an ephemeris) are given on MPEC
2007-B79.

                    Epoch = 2007 Mar.  1.0 TT
     T = 2007 Feb.  9.9575 TT         Peri. =  41.3095
     e = 0.420981                     Node  =  78.4544  2000.0
     q = 2.102218 AU                  Incl. =   9.0781
       a =  3.630654 AU    n = 0.1424711    P =   6.92 years


SATELLITES OF NEPTUNE
     Further to IAUC 5347, the IAU Working Group for Planetary
System Nomenclature has approved the following new designations and
names of satellites of Neptune:

    Neptune IX      Halimede    = S/2002 N 1
    Neptune X       Psamathe    = S/2003 N 1
    Neptune XI      Sao         = S/2002 N 2
    Neptune XII     Laomedeia   = S/2002 N 3
    Neptune XIII    Neso        = S/2002 N 4


COMET C/2006 P1 (McNAUGHT)
     Visual total-magnitude and tail-length estimates (cf. IAUC
8797):  Jan. 22.51 UT, -0.3, 24 deg (A. Pearce, City Beach, W.
Australia, naked eye); 23.53, +1.5, 30 deg (D. J. Frew, Perth
Observatory, naked eye); 24.53, -0.3, 26 deg (Pearce); 25.52, +0.4,
20 deg (Pearce); 29.65, +2.3:, 15 deg (J. Drummond, Gisborne, New
Zealand, naked eye); 31.52, 2.5, > 7 deg (Frew); Feb. 3.95, 3.0, --
(W. Souza, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 8x30 binoculars).

                      (C) Copyright 2007 CBAT
2007 February 3                (8802)            Daniel W. E. Green

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