Comet C/2013 G2 (McNaught)
Abstract
R. H. McNaught reports his discovery of a comet on CCD images taken with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring (discovery observations tabulated below), noting a coma of diameter 14" with moderately diffuse condensation and a diffuse tail 0'.4 long in p.a. 230 deg. After posting on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, other CCD astrometrists have also commented on the object's cometary appearance. T. Lister writes that exposures taken by E. J. Christensen, S. M. Larson, and T. Lister with the 1.0-m f/8 Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope at Cerro Tololo on Apr. 9.4 UT shows a coma of diameter approximately 8" with elongation to the southwest. Lister adds that six stacked 180-s exposures taken on Apr. 9.7 with the 2.0-m f/10 "Faulkes Telescope South" at Siding Spring show a coma of diameter about 7".5. H. Sato (Tokyo, Japan; remotely using a 0.51-m f/6.8 astrograph of the iTelescope Observatory at Siding Spring; six stacked 60-s images from Apr. 9.7) notes a strongly condensed coma 20" in diameter with total V-band magnitude, as measured within a circular aperture of radius 9".9, of 16.8; it also showed a fan-like tail 50" long toward p.a. 220 degrees. R. Ligustri (Talmassons, Udine, Italy; remotely with a 0.50-m f/4.5 reflector of the iTelescope Observatory at Siding Spring; Apr. 10.8) finds a coma of size about 15" that is elongated toward p.a. 230 deg. 2013 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer Apr. 8.71616 20 26 23.56 -37 51 04.1 17.0 McNaught 8.72686 20 26 23.28 -37 50 56.8 16.9 " 8.73750 20 26 22.96 -37 50 51.2 16.7 " 8.74819 20 26 22.81 -37 50 45.3 16.7 " The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2013-G39. T = 2012 Dec. 1.1790 TT Peri. = 289.4759 Node = 274.1706 2000.0 q = 2.049029 AU Incl. = 94.8206
- Publication:
-
Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams
- Pub Date:
- April 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013CBET.3462....1M