Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams

Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams -- Image credits

IAUC 8244: P/2001 RG_100; (65803) 1996 GT

The following International Astronomical Union Circular may be linked-to from your own Web pages, but must not otherwise be redistributed (see these notes on the conditions under which circulars are made available on our WWW site).

Read IAUC 8243 SEARCH Read IAUC 8245

View IAUC 8244 in .dvi or .ps format.
IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 8244
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 P/2001 RG_100 (LINEAR)
     CCD exposures taken by A. E. Gleason with the 0.9-m f/3
Spacewatch reflector at Kitt Peak on Nov. 26.4 UT show that the
object 2001 RG_100 (LINEAR discovery observation from MPS 36374
given below) is definitely a comet, showing a nuclear condensation
of diameter approximately 6" and a tail 18" long in p.a. 265 deg.
Following a request from the Minor Planet Center, J. Young reports
that CCD images taken at Table Mountain on Nov. 27 show a 4" coma
with a broad, faint tail extending approximately 12" in p.a. 265
deg.

     2001 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Sept.12.26331   22 45 31.47   -12 12 40.2   19.1

The following orbital elements by B. G. Marsden are from
observations published in the MPSs.

                    Epoch = 2002 July 25.0 TT
     T = 2002 July 25.7649 TT         Peri. = 235.5880
     e = 0.028930                     Node  = 137.3131  2000.0
     q = 4.595048 AU                  Incl. =   7.9031
       a =  4.731943 AU    n = 0.0957513    P =  10.293 years


(65803) 1996 GT
     P. Pravec, Ondrejov Observatory; L. A. M. Benner, Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); M. C. Nolan, National Astronomy and
Ionosphere Center; P. Kusnirak, Ondrejov Observatory; D. Pray,
Greene, RI, U.S.A.; J. D. Giorgini, R. F. Jurgens, and S. J. Ostro,
JPL; J.-L. Margot, University of California, Los Angeles; C. Magri,
University of Maine at Farmington; A. Grauer, University of
Arkansas at Little Rock; and S. Larson, University of Arizona,
report that photometric observations -- obtained during Nov. 20-24
at Ondrejov, at Steward Observatory, and by Pray -- show that
(65803) is a binary system with an orbital period of 11.9 hr.  The
primary rotates with a period of 2.26 hr, and its lightcurve
amplitude of 0.10 mag is indicative of a nearly spheroidal shape.
Mutual eclipse/occultation events 0.05-0.08 mag deep indicate a
secondary-to-primary mean-diameter ratio of 0.2.  Arecibo radar
delay-Doppler images (2380 MHz, 12.6 cm) obtained on Nov. 23 and 24
independently confirm that (65803) is a binary system.  Preliminary
estimates of the diameters, based on images at 15-m resolution, are
approximately 800 and approximately 150 m.

                      (C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 November 28               (8244)            Daniel W. E. Green

Read IAUC 8243 SEARCH Read IAUC 8245

View IAUC 8244 in .dvi or .ps format.

Our Web policy. Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.

Valid HTML 4.01!