Comet P/2013 N5 (Panstarrs)
Abstract
Bryce Bolin, Richard Wainscoat, and Larry Denneau report the discovery of a comet in four 45-s exposures from the Pan-STARRS1 telescope on Haleakala on July 14 (discovery observations tabulated below); the object then showed a diffuse, non-stellar appearance with a tail about 3".6 long in p.a. 240 degrees. Follow-up images obtained by Richard Wainscoat and Marco Micheli on July 15.6 UT with the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (queue observer Peter Forshay) show a broad 6" tail to the southwest, with an almost stellar nuclear condensation; their additional images on Aug. 1.6 and 3.6 show a broad, diffuse, faint 6" tail to the southwest (queue observer David Woodworth on Aug. 3). 2013 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. July 14.57773 2 38 30.09 +14 24 31.8 21.4 14.58168 2 38 30.66 +14 24 31.4 21.4 14.58563 2 38 31.22 +14 24 31.2 21.3 14.58959 2 38 31.80 +14 24 30.9 21.3 The available astrometry, the following elliptical orbital elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2013-P17. Epoch = 2013 July 7.0 TT T = 2013 July 1.9282 TT Peri. = 175.9713 e = 0.715628 Node = 187.6265 2000.0 q = 1.816625 AU Incl. = 23.2206 a = 6.388208 AU n = 0.0610430 P = 16.15 years
- Publication:
-
Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams
- Pub Date:
- August 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013CBET.3617....1B