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IAUC 8239: C/2003 W1; 2P

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                                                  Circular No. 8239
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html  ISSN 0081-0304
Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)


COMET C/2003 W1 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object reported by LINEAR (discovery
observation below) was posted on the NEO Confirmation Page and has
been found to show cometary appearance by several CCD observers,
including J. Young (Table Mountain, CA, 0.6-m reflector; Nov. 17.1
UT, very round coma of diameter 8" and mag 17.5 with a faint,
featureless tail 50" long in p.a. 42 deg), R. Fredrick and R.
Trentman (Louisburg, KS, 0.75-m reflector; Nov. 17.1, very diffuse
tail approximately 4" long in p.a. 20 deg), J. E. Rogers (Camarillo,
CA, 0.30-m reflector; Nov. 17.1, diffuse), and J. Lacruz (Madrid,
Spain, 0.30-m reflector; Nov. 17.8, diffuse coma extending some 50"
to the north).

     2003 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Nov. 16.08352   17 19 24.46   +61 31 38.2   18.5

The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic
orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2003-W04.

     T = 2003 Nov. 14.185 TT          Peri. = 116.350
                                      Node  = 256.288   2000.0
     q = 1.65707 AU                   Incl. =  78.342


COMET 2P/ENCKE
     L. M. Woodney, University of Central Florida; and T. C. Owen
and Y. R. Fernandez, University of Hawaii, report the detection of
HCN from comet 2P/Encke.  The HCN J(4-3) transition was observed
during Nov 9-11 UT at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope.  The line
had a FWHM of 1.4 km/s and an integrated line strength of 0.057 +/-
0.011 K km/s.  Assuming a rotational temperature of 43 K, and using
a Haser model, a production rate of Q(HCN) = 9.8 x 10**23
molecules/s was derived.
     Visual total-magnitude and coma-diameter estimates: Oct. 24.85
UT, 9.8, 8' (E. P. Bus, Groningen, The Netherlands, 0.08-m
refractor); Nov. 9.05, 8.5, 14' (B. H. Granslo, Lygna, Norway,
0.15-m reflector; during total lunar eclipse); 11.68, 8.4, 12' (P.
Guzik, Krosno, Poland, 10x50 binoculars); 12.71, 8.2, 15' (K.
Hornoch, Lelekovice, Czech Republic, 10x80 binoculars); 14.73, 7.8,
15' (T. Scarmato, Calabria, Italy, 7x50 binoculars); 16.06, 7.7,
about 9' (D. W. E. Green, Hubbardston, MA, 12x50 binoculars).

                      (C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 November 17               (8239)            Daniel W. E. Green

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