Comet P/2012 T3 (Panstarrs)
Abstract
Richard Wainscoat, Larry Denneau, and Henry Hsieh report the discovery of a comet in four w-band exposures taken with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS 1 telescope at Haleakala (discovery observations tabulated below); the object is faint but has a diffuse, non-stellar appearance. Hsieh writes that follow-up images obtained by Heather Kaluna with the University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope at Mauna Kea on Oct. 12 UT, and by Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo with the 6.5-m Magellan Baade telescope at Las Campanas on Oct. 15, confirm that the object is clearly cometary; measurements by Hsieh show that the object's point-spread function has a FWHM of 2".4 compared to a typical FWHM of 2".2 for nearby field stars in the 2.2-m telescope data, while the object's PSF has a FWHM of 1".6 compared to a typical FWHM of 1".2 for nearby field stars in the Magellan data. 2012 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Oct. 10.35159 23 54 35.68 -15 02 31.3 21.3 10.36553 23 54 35.32 -15 02 32.0 21.4 10.37946 23 54 34.94 -15 02 32.8 21.5 10.39339 23 54 34.61 -15 02 33.3 21.4 The available astrometry, the following preliminary elliptical orbital elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2012-U4. T = 2012 Apr. 30.3931 TT Peri. = 198.4921 e = 0.596998 Node = 113.8604 2000.0 q = 2.407888 AU Incl. = 9.4895 a = 5.974880 AU n = 0.0674855 P = 14.6 years
- Publication:
-
Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams
- Pub Date:
- October 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012CBET.3255....1W