Electronic Telegram No. 5342 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/2023 X6 = P/2014 A3 (PANSTARRS) M. Rudenko, Minor Planet Center, reports on MPEC 2024-B170 that comet P/2014 A3 (cf. CBET 3782) has been recovered in incidental astrometry from presumably stellar images obtained with the Pan-STARRS1 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien reflector at Haleakala (astrometry tabulated below). 2023 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Dec. 9.52995 8 54 00.75 + 1 08 34.4 21.5 9.54708 8 54 00.66 + 1 08 29.8 21.4 9.56264 8 54 00.56 + 1 08 25.6 21.3 2024 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Jan. 7.52833 8 44 42.64 - 0 12 45.3 21.0 7.53972 8 44 42.25 - 0 12 46.4 21.0 7.55111 8 44 41.88 - 0 12 46.7 21.0 20.44847 8 37 07.26 - 0 13 12.6 21.1 20.46387 8 37 06.66 - 0 13 11.8 21.1 20.47627 8 37 06.19 - 0 13 11.1 20.9 20.48869 8 37 05.70 - 0 13 10.6 21.0 The residuals from the prediction in NK 2902 (and the ICQ's 2023 Comet Handbook) are +10" in R.A. and -3" in Decl., with a corresponding correction of Delta(T) = -0.02 day. The following linked orbital elements by S. Nakano (Central Bureau) are from 66 observations spanning 2014 Jan. 9-2024 Jan. 20 (mean residual 0".4). These indicate that the comet passed 0.0017 AU on 1971 May 21 and 0.62 AU on 2006 Sept. 10 from Jupiter; it also passed 0.70 AU from Saturn in 1942 December. Nakano computed the following orbital elements for prior to the close encounter in 1971: T = 1954 Feb. 11, q = 5.212 AU, e = 0.247, Peri. = 205.9 deg, Node = 68.4 deg, i = 18.6 deg, a = 6.920 AU, P = 18.2 years. Epoch = 2013 Apr. 18.0 TT T = 2013 Apr. 21.96896 TT Peri. = 213.59639 e = 0.2436019 Node = 230.76944 2000.0 q = 3.5494006 AU Incl. = 13.69921 a = 4.6925035 AU n = 0.09696102 P = 10.16 years Epoch = 2023 Apr. 6.0 TT T = 2023 Apr. 22.44191 TT Peri. = 214.16936 e = 0.2463923 Node = 229.97790 2000.0 q = 3.4721192 AU Incl. = 13.71753 a = 4.6073297 AU n = 0.09966212 P = 9.89 years Epoch = 2033 Mar. 24.0 TT T = 2033 Mar. 21.75644 TT Peri. = 214.14264 e = 0.2453907 Node = 229.96959 2000.0 q = 3.4936380 AU Incl. = 13.69611 a = 4.6297311 AU n = 0.09893966 P = 9.96 years Epoch = 2043 Mar. 12.0 TT T = 2043 Mar. 24.09116 TT Peri. = 214.31228 e = 0.2444166 Node = 229.84559 2000.0 q = 3.5117035 AU Incl. = 13.68156 a = 4.6476713 AU n = 0.09836735 P = 10.02 years The following ephemeris by the undersigned from the above orbital elements uses photometric power-law parameters H = 14.0 and 2.5n = 7.5; the absolute magnitude here is 1 mag fainter than what was derived for the 2014-2015 observations. Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase Mag. 2024 01 11 08 42.81 -00 15.1 2.777 3.668 151.0 7.5 20.5 2024 01 21 08 36.77 -00 12.7 2.749 3.682 158.6 5.6 20.4 2024 01 31 08 30.41 +00 02.7 2.749 3.697 161.7 4.8 20.5 2024 02 10 08 24.30 +00 29.2 2.777 3.712 158.2 5.7 20.5 2024 02 20 08 19.06 +01 03.7 2.834 3.727 150.6 7.5 20.5 2024 03 01 08 15.13 +01 42.8 2.916 3.742 141.4 9.5 20.6 2024 03 11 08 12.81 +02 23.1 3.021 3.758 131.9 11.3 20.7 2024 03 21 08 12.25 +03 01.7 3.144 3.774 122.5 12.9 20.8 2024 03 31 08 13.46 +03 36.3 3.282 3.791 113.4 14.0 20.9 2024 04 10 08 16.33 +04 05.1 3.430 3.808 104.6 14.8 21.0 2024 04 20 08 20.75 +04 27.1 3.585 3.825 96.1 15.1 21.1 2024 04 30 08 26.51 +04 41.7 3.742 3.842 88.1 15.2 21.2 2024 05 10 08 33.44 +04 48.5 3.900 3.860 80.3 14.9 21.4 2024 05 20 08 41.35 +04 47.5 4.055 3.878 72.8 14.4 21.5 2024 05 30 08 50.09 +04 38.9 4.205 3.896 65.5 13.7 21.5 2024 06 09 08 59.49 +04 22.9 4.347 3.914 58.5 12.8 21.6 2024 06 19 09 09.44 +03 59.8 4.481 3.933 51.7 11.7 21.7 NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2024 CBAT 2024 January 31 (CBET 5342) Daniel W. E. Green