Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 8958: C/2008 FK_75; CCO 2008
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Circular No. 8958
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/2008 FK_75 (LEMMON-SIDING SPRING)
An apparently asteroidal object that was discovered in the
course of the Mt. Lemmon Survey (and given the designation 2008
FK_75 on MPS 244903; additional observations on MPS 245852) was
rediscovered in the course of the Siding Spring survey (again as
apparently asteroidal) on July 1 (discovery observations tabulated
below) and posted on the Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage
before the identity was found. J. Young writes that images taken
with the Table Mountain 0.61-m f/16 Cassegrain reflector on July
3.2 UT show a 6"-diameter round, diffuse coma with a slight
central condensation; there is no visible tail seen with long or
stacked exposures, but the comet was low and in a somewhat-light-
polluted area of the sky. Young adds that additional exposures
taken with the same telescope by M. Hicks on July 7.2 again show a
diffuse, round coma of diameter 6" with no tail. R. Holmes
(Charleston, IL, U.S.A., 0.81-m f/4.0 astrograph) reports that the
object does not appear stellar on his images from July 6.1, the
object being somewhat larger than stars of similar brightness).
2008 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer
Mar. 31.39920 14 23 35.16 -18 28 59.3 19.4 Mt. Lemmon
July 1.43226 13 56 58.34 -11 44 19.0 18.9 Siding Spring
Additional astrometry and the following parabolic orbital elements
by G. V. Williams appear on MPEC 2008-N18.
T = 2010 Sept.30.8879 TT Peri. = 80.3140
Node = 218.2486 2000.0
q = 4.524280 AU Incl. = 61.2159
CATALOGUE OF COMETARY ORBITS 2008
A new 195-page edition -- the seventeenth -- of the MPC/CBAT
Catalogue of Cometary Orbits has now been published. The catalogue
includes 3815 orbits for 3708 cometary apparitions, and there are
tabulations of the osculating elements for six standard epochs
beginning 2007 Oct. 27.0 for periodic comets. The 195-page
catalogue sells for $60.00 ($80.00 for airmail delivery outside
North America). There is also an e-mail edition (with just the
basic orbital information) for $80.00. Orders should be sent to
the address in the header of this Circular.
(C) Copyright 2008 CBAT
2008 July 7 (8958) Daniel W. E. Green
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