Comet P/2004 HC_18 (LINEAR)

An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the LINEAR survey (discovery observation given below from MPS 105288) has been found to have cometary appearance by A. Gleason and J. Larsen on CCD exposures taken by J. Scotti with the Spacewatch telescope on Apr. 25.34-25.39 UT, when it showed a coma of diameter about 5" (and mag 17.6-17.9) and two tails: a diffuse component approximately 7" long in p.a. 350-355 deg and a very diffuse but more obvious tail approximately 10"-16" long spanning p.a. 275-335 deg. 2004 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Apr. 17.34932 15 10 51.35 -19 15 39.8 19.1 Additional astrometry, the following elliptical orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2004-H90. T = 2004 June 18.494 TT Peri. = 30.716 e = 0.51050 Node = 219.568 2000.0 q = 1.71315 AU Incl. = 23.542 a = 3.49981 AU n = 0.150535 P = 6.55 years