Electronic Telegram No. 2714 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION CBAT Director: Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University; 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA 02138; U.S.A. e-mail: cbatiau@eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat@iau.org) URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network COMET C/2011 J2 (LINEAR) An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the LINEAR survey (discovery observation tabulated below), and posted on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, has been found by other CCD astrometrists to show cometary appearance. Juan Lacruz (Madrid, Spain) writes that sixty stacked 30-s images taken with a 0.40-m reflector at La Canada on May 5.9 UT show a diffuse object about 10" wide that is slightly elongated toward the southeast (but no distinct tail). H. Sato (Tokyo, Japan) notes that images taken remotely with a 0.43-m f/6.8 reflector at the RAS Observatory near Nerpio, Spain, on May 5.9 show the object to be elongated; additional images taken remotely by Sato on May 6.2 with a 0.50-m f/4.5 reflector at the RAS Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A., show a coma diameter of about 8" and a hint of a fan-like tail extending 10" eastwards. R. Holmes (Ashmore, IL, USA) reports that co-added images taken by T. Linder, V. Hoette, and himself with a 0.41-m f/11 Ritchey-Chretien telescope at Cerro Tololo on May 6.0 in 1".5 seeing show the object to be diffuse with a coma diameter of 7".1, elongated in p.a. 73 degrees. J. V. Scotti (Lunar and Planetary Laboratory) finds a coma diameter of 11" and a faint 0'.18 tail in p.a. 135 deg on six co-added frames taken on May 6.2 with the Spacewatch 1.8-m f/2.7 reflector. R-band CCD frames taken by W. H. Ryan and E. V. Ryan on May 7.12-7.15 with the Magdalena Ridge Observatory 2.4-m f/8.9 reflector show a distinct coma (total mag 19.1) with a tail in p.a. about 135 deg. 2011 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer May 4.18905 10 50 06.11 - 8 27 24.5 19.7 LINEAR The available astrometry (including prediscovery Catalina observations from Mar. 10 and 25, found by the MPC staff after posting on the NEOCP), the following parabolic orbital elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2011-J31. T = 2013 Dec. 23.1878 TT Peri. = 85.6215 Node = 163.9956 2000.0 q = 3.416777 AU Incl. = 122.6925 NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2011 CBAT 2011 May 7 (CBET 2714) Daniel W. E. Green