[Iaude] CBET 4330: 20161013 : COMET C/2016 T2 (MATHENY)

[quai at eps.harvard.edu]

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 4330
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Mailing address:  Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau at eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat at iau.org)
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Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


COMET C/2016 T2 (MATHENY)
     R. G. Matheny reports her discovery of another comet on CCD images taken
with the Mount Lemmon 1.5-m reflector (discovery observations tabulated
below) in haze and moonlight; the object showed a "fuzzy" coma about 10"-12"
in diameter with a faint tail towards p.a. 95-100 deg.

     2016 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Oct. 10.12203   19 04 56.82   +48 51 26.6   18.6   Matheny
          10.12653   19 04 56.15   +48 51 23.1            "
          10.13092   19 04 55.55   +48 51 20.5   18.8     "
          10.13536   19 04 54.90   +48 51 18.4            "
          10.15667   19 04 51.99   +48 51 02.8   18.2     "
          10.16058   19 04 51.39   +48 51 00.9   18.4     "
          10.16522   19 04 50.76   +48 50 57.3   18.4     "
          10.16977   19 04 50.10   +48 50 54.3   18.3     "
          10.18303   19 04 48.22   +48 50 45.2   18.7     "
          10.18738   19 04 47.61   +48 50 42.1   18.4     "
          10.19213   19 04 46.96   +48 50 39.9   18.1     "
          10.19809   19 04 46.12   +48 50 35.8   18.2     "

After the comet was posted on the Minor Planet Center's PCCP webpage, other
CCD astrometrists have also commented on the cometary appearance.  H. Sato,
Tokyo, Japan, used eight stacked 60-s exposures taken with an iTelescope
0.51-m f/6.8 astrograph (+ luminance filter) near Mayhill, NM, USA, on Oct.
11.1 UT to find the comet to be strongly condensed with a coma 12" in
diameter with no tail; the w-band magnitude was 18.4 as measured within a
circular aperture of radius 6".5.  R. S. McMillan, University of Arizona,
notes that images taken in 3" seeing with the Spacewatch 1.8-m f/2.7
reflector at Kitt Peak on Oct. 11.2 show the comet to be diffuse in
individual 60-s exposures.  L. Buzzi, Varese, Italy, writes that exposures
obtained on Oct. 11.9 with a 0.60-m f/4.6 reflector show the comet's image
to be softer with respect to nearby stars.
     The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic orbital
elements by G. V. Williams (from 72 observations spanning Oct. 10-12), and an
ephemeris appear on MPEC 2016-T135.

     T = 2016 Dec. 26.3157 TT         Peri. =  90.5774
                                      Node  = 339.5151  2000.0
     q = 1.935863 AU                  Incl. =  81.7573


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2016 CBAT
2016 October 13                  (CBET 4330)              Daniel W. E. Green