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IAUC 8831: C/2007 H2

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                                                  Circular No. 8831
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://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html  ISSN 0081-0304
Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)


COMET C/2007 H2 (SKIFF)
     B. A. Skiff, Lowell Observatory, reports his discovery of a
comet on CCD images taken by himself with the 0.59-m LONEOS Schmidt
telescope (discovery observation tabulated below), a 10" coma noted
as being moderately condensed with a narrow tail extending 30" in
p.a. 250 deg.  Following posting on the Minor Planet Center's
'NEOCP' webpage, numerous other CCD astrometric observers have
remarked on the objects cometary appearance, including L. Bittesini,
G. Lombardi, E. Pettarin, F. Piani, and G. Cralli (Farra d'Isonzo,
Italy, 0.40-m f/4.5 reflector, Apr. 19.84 UT; diffuse coma of
diameter about 10" and a tail about 50" long in p.a. 230 deg); A.
Knoefel (Schoenbrunn, Germany, 0.5-m f/5 reflector, Apr. 19.9;
short tail visible); L. Donato, M. Gonano, V. Gonano, E. Guido, and
G. Sostero (Remanzacco, Italy, 0.45-m f/4.4 reflector, Apr. 19.83-
19.91; co-adding of sixty unfiltered 60-s exposures reveals the
presence of a coma nearly 20" in diameter and a narrow tail
extending almost 2' toward p.a. 235 deg); J. J. Mueller (Irmtraut,
Germany, 0.31-m f/4.8 reflector, Apr. 19.9; coma diameter 5");
P. Birtwhistle (Great Shefford, Berkshire, England, 0.40-m f/6
Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector, Apr. 19.9; diffuse coma of diameter
9" with central condensation and a tail 20" long -- possibly up to
30" long -- in p.a. 230 deg); J. Lacruz, Madrid, Spain, 0.30-m
Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector, Apr. 19.96-19.98; condensed,
elongated coma of diameter 8" with a fan-shaped tail 28"-30" long
spanning p.a. 223-235 deg); M. Pietschnig (Vienna, 0.35-m f/7
Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector, Apr. 19.96-19.98; 20" tail in p.a.
239 deg); G. Hug (Scranton, KS, 0.30-m Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector,
Apr. 20.26; narrow tail extending about 1' in p.a. about 220 deg);
and R. E. Hill (Mount Lemmon 1.5-m reflector, Apr. 20.3; four 30-s
stacked images in 2"-3" seeing show a well-condensed nuclear
condensation of diameter about 10" and a broad, fan-shaped tail
about 1' long toward p.a. about 225 deg).

     2007 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Apr. 19.25649   13 40 08.95   - 0 26 15.3   18.1

The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic
orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2007-H33.

     T = 2007 Feb. 17.409 TT          Peri. = 319.448
                                      Node  = 203.789   2000.0
     q = 1.41383 AU                   Incl. =  52.638

                      (C) Copyright 2007 CBAT
2007 April 20                  (8831)            Daniel W. E. Green

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