Electronic Telegram No. 5025 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams Mailing address: 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 P/2021 Q1 = P/2014 W12 (GIBBS) E. Schwab, Egelsbach, Germany, reports his recovery of comet P/2014 W12 (cf. CBET 4032) on CCD images taken with a 0.8-m f/3 Schmidt telescope at Calar Alto in a program that includes collaborators D. Koschny, M. Micheli, and E. Petrescu. Twelve stacked 60-s exposures show a tail about 10" long in p.a. about 250 degrees on each of the two nights, with his astrometry tabulated below. 2021 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer Aug. 16.13113 3 28 57.03 +28 51 54.2 20.0 Schwab 16.14341 3 28 58.24 +28 52 01.1 19.9 " 16.15569 3 28 59.37 +28 52 07.4 20.0 " 17.13880 3 30 33.12 +29 00 58.5 19.8 " 17.14800 3 30 33.95 +29 01 03.2 20.2 " 17.15720 3 30 34.85 +29 01 08.5 20.1 " H. Sato, Tokyo, Japan, identified pre-recovery observations of this comet following communication with S. Nakano (CBAT) regarding Schwab's recovery (above), from CCD images taken remotely with a 0.51-m f/6.8 astrograph located near Mayhill, NM, USA, as tabulated below. The comet appeared strongly condensed with a coma 8" in diameter and no tail in twelve stacked 60-s exposures; the magnitude was measured within a circular aperture of radius 4".9. 2021 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer Aug. 7.45538 3 14 16.77 +27 28 13.3 Sato 7.46049 3 14 17.31 +27 28 16.5 19.6 " Nakano has identified the following single-night observations made in 2008 via the Catalina Sky Survey. 2008 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Nov. 30.27242 3 24 09.82 +31 07 39.1 19.4 30.28324 3 24 09.07 +31 07 34.7 19.0 30.29398 3 24 08.64 +31 07 29.3 18.3 30.30474 3 24 07.95 +31 07 25.8 18.5 The residuals for the recovery observations were +15.8 deg in R.A. and +3.2 deg in Decl. from the prediction in NK 2976 and the ICQ's 2015, 2020, and 2021 Comet Handbooks, with a corresponding correction of Delta(T) = -37.6 days. The residuals of the unlinked 2008 observations were +68" in R.A. and +13" in Decl. from a linked 2014-2021 orbit by Nakano with a corresponding Delta(T) correction of +0.05 day. The following linked orbital elements by Nakano are from 92 observations spanning 2008-2021 (mean residual 0".6). This comet has no close approaches to major planets. Epoch = 2008 May 14.0 TT T = 2008 May 16.69187 TT Peri. = 36.84230 e = 0.5212093 Node = 299.41912 2000.0 q = 1.6647813 AU Incl. = 8.53290 a = 3.4770544 AU n = 0.15201514 P = 6.48 years Epoch = 2014 Oct. 30.0 TT T = 2014 Nov. 15.10839 TT Peri. = 36.96959 e = 0.5195035 Node = 299.32391 2000.0 q = 1.6746180 AU Incl. = 8.51573 a = 3.4851825 AU n = 0.15148366 P = 6.51 years Epoch = 2021 May 26.0 TT T = 2021 May 14.67750 TT Peri. = 36.81588 e = 0.5196985 Node = 299.33703 2000.0 q = 1.6740075 AU Incl. = 8.51529 a = 3.4853262 AU n = 0.15147429 P = 6.51 years Epoch = 2027 Nov. 11.0 TT T = 2027 Nov. 17.81262 TT Peri. = 36.82372 e = 0.5182441 Node = 299.30545 2000.0 q = 1.6821872 AU Incl. = 8.50197 a = 3.4917831 AU n = 0.15105433 P = 6.52 years Epoch = 2034 June 7.0 TT T = 2034 May 23.28390 TT Peri. = 36.77808 e = 0.5197554 Node = 299.30726 2000.0 q = 1.6741456 AU Incl. = 8.51015 a = 3.4860266 AU n = 0.15142864 P = 6.51 years The following ephemeris by the undersigned from the above orbital elements uses photometric power-law parameters H = 13.5 and 2.5n = 10 for the magnitudes, which represent the 2008 and 2014 apparitions. Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase Mag. 2021 08 14 03 25.49 +28 32.3 1.675 1.881 85.0 32.4 17.4 2021 08 24 03 40.82 +29 59.3 1.621 1.923 90.9 31.7 17.4 2021 09 03 03 53.58 +31 14.0 1.565 1.969 97.4 30.5 17.4 2021 09 13 04 03.26 +32 16.8 1.510 2.016 104.7 28.9 17.4 2021 09 23 04 09.38 +33 07.6 1.458 2.065 112.8 26.6 17.5 2021 10 03 04 11.56 +33 45.4 1.412 2.116 121.7 23.7 17.5 2021 10 13 04 09.60 +34 07.5 1.375 2.169 131.4 20.2 17.6 2021 10 23 04 03.76 +34 10.3 1.353 2.222 141.9 16.1 17.6 2021 11 02 03 54.82 +33 51.1 1.349 2.276 152.6 11.6 17.7 2021 11 12 03 44.12 +33 08.9 1.368 2.331 162.5 7.3 17.9 2021 11 22 03 33.32 +32 07.5 1.413 2.386 167.4 5.2 18.0 2021 12 02 03 23.94 +30 54.6 1.484 2.442 162.3 7.1 18.2 2021 12 12 03 17.07 +29 39.3 1.582 2.498 152.7 10.4 18.5 2021 12 22 03 13.23 +28 29.8 1.704 2.554 142.3 13.6 18.7 2022 01 01 03 12.45 +27 31.3 1.846 2.610 132.2 16.2 19.0 2022 01 11 03 14.52 +26 46.0 2.005 2.666 122.6 18.1 19.3 2022 01 21 03 19.09 +26 13.9 2.177 2.722 113.4 19.4 19.5 2022 01 31 03 25.75 +25 53.7 2.358 2.777 104.7 20.1 19.8 2022 02 10 03 34.17 +25 43.4 2.546 2.832 96.5 20.3 20.1 2022 02 20 03 44.02 +25 40.6 2.737 2.887 88.6 20.0 20.3 2022 03 02 03 55.03 +25 43.2 2.929 2.941 81.0 19.4 20.5 NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2021 CBAT 2021 August 23 (CBET 5025) Daniel W. E. Green