Comet C/2015 R1 (Panstarrs)
Abstract
Eva Lilly and Richard Wainscoat report the discovery of a comet in three i-band exposures taken with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope at Haleakala on Sept. 8.6 UT (discovery observations tabulated below), noting evidence of a short diffuse tail extending for approximately 2" towards position angle approximately 270 degrees. 2015 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Sept. 8.57045 2 57 31.38 - 0 28 23.0 19.0 8.58433 2 57 31.42 - 0 28 18.2 19.0 8.59818 2 57 31.46 - 0 28 13.3 19.1 M. Micheli reports that CCD images taken by R. J. Wainscoat and P. Forshay with the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea on Sept. 9.55 UT confirm the object to be clearly cometary with a tail about 75" long in p.a. 240 deg. After the object was posted on the Minor Planet Center's PCCP webpage, other CCD astrometrists have commented on the cometary appearance. Twenty 180-s mages taken by A. Maury and J.-F. Soulier with a 0.4-m f/8 Ritchey-Chretien reflector at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, on Sept. 9.3 show a 14" coma with a 20"-long tail in p.a. 245 deg. E. Bryssinck, Kruibeke, Belgium, reports that fifteen stacked 120-s exposures taken on Sept. 10.1 with a 0.4-m f/3.8 reflector show a condensed coma 13" in size that is elongated toward the southsest (p.a. 240 deg)) with a hint of a tail 19" long.
- Publication:
-
Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams
- Pub Date:
- September 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015CBET.4141....1L