[Iaude] CBET 5312: COMET P/2023 V2

[quai at eps.harvard.edu]

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 5312
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)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


COMET P/2023 V2 (PANSTARRS)
     R. Weryk, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western
Ontario, reports the discovery of another comet in images obtained on Nov.
4 with the Pan-STARRS2 (first four observations tabulated below) and
Pan-STARRS1 (last two observations tabulated below) 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien
reflectors at Haleakala, Hawaii.  Four 45-s w-band Pan-STARRS2 survey
images taken in poor (1".6) seeing on Nov. 4.5 UT show a condensed coma of
size 2".0 (full-width-at-half-maximum) with no obvious tail.

     2023 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Nov.  4.46638    3 15 10.14   + 6 45 55.5   20.5
           4.47885    3 15 09.69   + 6 45 55.0   20.5
           4.49134    3 15 09.24   + 6 45 54.6   20.6
           4.50372    3 15 08.81   + 6 45 53.8   20.6
           4.56749    3 15 06.57   + 6 45 50.9   20.3
           4.56831    3 15 06.54   + 6 45 51.0   20.0

Pan-STARRS1 observations were subsequently identified in the Minor Planet
Center's "isolated tracklet file" from Oct. 15.5 UT (mag 21.4-21.8), as were
Pan-STARRS2 observations from Oct. 18.5 (mag 21.2-21.4) and Oct. 24.4 (mag
20.7-21.0).  Earlier pre-discovery Pan-STARRS2 observations were later
reported from Sept. 19.6 (mag 22.3), as were Pan-STARRS1 observations from
Oct. 6.5 (mag 21.2-21.9)
     After the comet was posted on the Minor Planet Center's PCCP webpage,
H. Sato (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan) reports that eight stacked 120-s CCD
exposures taken remotely with a iTelescope 0.51-m f/6.8 astrograph located at
the "Deep Sky Chile" observatory in Rio Hurtado, Chile, show a strongly
condensed coma 5" in diameter with no tail; the magnitude was 20.1 as measured
within a circular aperture of radius 2".8.
     The available astrometry appears on MPEC 2023-V108.  The following
elliptical orbital elements by S. Nakano (Central Bureau) are from 34
observations spanning 2023 Sept. 19-Nov. 6 (mean residual 0".2).  These
suggest that the comet passed 0.0030 AU from Saturn on 2018 Feb. 3 UT, which
would have greatly changed its orbit.

     T = 2024 Feb.  3.93213 TT        Peri. = 330.49786
     e = 0.5726673                    Node  =  95.52858 2000.0
     q = 3.1043014 AU                 Incl. =   9.87300
       a =  7.2643670 AU   n = 0.05033933   P =  19.58 years

The following ephemeris by the undersigned from the above orbital elements
uses photometric power-law parameters H = 14.0 and 2.5n = 8 for the
magnitudes.

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r     Elong.  Phase  Mag.
2023 10 23    03 21.49   +06 59.1    2.260    3.197   156.5     7.1  19.8
2023 11 02    03 16.54   +06 47.9    2.210    3.180   165.5     4.5  19.7
2023 11 12    03 10.78   +06 42.4    2.187    3.165   169.2     3.4  19.7
2023 11 22    03 04.92   +06 45.1    2.193    3.152   163.2     5.2  19.7
2023 12 02    02 59.69   +06 58.0    2.226    3.140   153.6     8.0  19.7
2023 12 12    02 55.71   +07 21.9    2.284    3.130   143.4    10.8  19.8
2023 12 22    02 53.47   +07 56.8    2.364    3.121   133.2    13.3  19.8
2024 01 01    02 53.22   +08 41.8    2.462    3.114   123.4    15.3  19.9
2024 01 11    02 55.05   +09 35.4    2.575    3.109   114.1    16.8  20.0
2024 01 21    02 58.93   +10 35.9    2.699    3.106   105.2    17.8  20.1
2024 01 31    03 04.72   +11 41.4    2.830    3.104    96.8    18.4  20.2
2024 02 10    03 12.25   +12 50.2    2.965    3.105    88.8    18.5  20.3
2024 02 20    03 21.35   +14 00.7    3.101    3.107    81.1    18.3  20.4
2024 03 01    03 31.82   +15 11.3    3.237    3.110    73.8    17.8  20.5
2024 03 11    03 43.49   +16 20.6    3.370    3.116    66.8    17.0  20.6
2024 03 21    03 56.22   +17 27.5    3.498    3.123    60.1    16.1  20.7
2024 03 31    04 09.85   +18 30.7    3.620    3.132    53.6    14.9  20.8


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

                         (C) Copyright 2023 CBAT
2023 November 8                  (CBET 5312)              Daniel W. E. Green