Comet C/2015 F2 (Polonia)
Abstract
Rafal Reszelewski, Swidwin, Poland; and Michal Kusiak, Zywiec, Poland, report the discovery of a diffuse comet with diameter 7"-10" and no tail on CCD images (pixel size 3".5) obtained by Marcin Gedek (Oborniki, Poland), Michal Zolnowski (Krakow, Poland), and themselves on Mar. 23.3 UT (discovery observations tabulated below) with a remote-controlled 0.1-m f/5 astrograph of the Polonia Observatory at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, in the course of their comet-search program. 2015 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Mar. 23.29317 18 28 51.82 -51 32 12.8 16.8 23.29884 18 28 53.95 -51 32 05.1 17.5 23.30451 18 28 55.91 -51 31 59.6 17.0 After the object was posted on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP and PCCP webpages, other CCD astrometrists have commented on its cometary appearance. H. Sato (Tokyo, Japan; eight 20-s exposures obtained remotely using an iTelescope 0.70-m f/6.6 astrograph + luminance filter at Siding Spring) found the comet to be strongly condensed with a round coma 10" in diameter, with magnitude 16.8 as measured within a circular aperture of radius 5".4 on Mar. 23.76 UT. E. Guido and N. Howes (fourteen stacked 30-s exposures obtained remotely using an iTelescope 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph at Siding Spring) note an ill-defined central condensation surrounded by a diffuse irregular coma 15" in diameter on Mar. 23.8. Ten stacked 60-s images taken remotely by C. Jacques, E. Pimentel, and J. Barros using an iTelescope 0.70-m f/6.6 astrograph at Siding Spring show a diffuse coma with diameter 18", slightly elongated towards p.a. 263 deg. E. Bryssinck, Kruibeke, Belgium, stacked nine 60-s images taken remotely on Mar. 26.7 with a Tzec Maun 0.15-m f/7.2 refractor at Siding Spring, revealing a diffuse object with central condensation and a coma diameter of 33".
- Publication:
-
Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams
- Pub Date:
- March 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015CBET.4083....1R