Electronic Telegram No. 3389
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; 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/2013 AL_76 (CATALINA)
     An apparently asteroidal object discovered on Catalina Sky Survey images
taken by J. A. Johnson (discovery observations tabulated below), and given
the minor-planet designation 2013 AL_76, has been found to show cometary
appearance by J. V. Scotti in images taken with the Spacewatch 1.8-m f/2.7
reflector at Kitt Peak on Jan. 20.4 UT.  Scotti writes that thirty-five
co-added 44-s exposures show a coma diameter of 7" (red mag 19.5-19.6) and a
fan-shaped tail 0'.29 long spanning p.a. about 129-189 deg; the faint tail is
clearly visible in each pair of fifteen co-added images that he used to
measure for astrometry.

     2013 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Jan. 14.21289    7 51 50.83   +61 38 13.1   19.8   Johnson
          14.22798    7 51 40.42   +61 38 44.1   19.5     "
          14.23550    7 51 35.28   +61 38 59.0   19.2     "
          14.43057    7 49 19.70   +61 45 24.8   19.4     "
          14.43523    7 49 16.53   +61 45 33.0   19.6     "
          14.43993    7 49 13.29   +61 45 42.0   19.4     "
          14.44462    7 49 10.09   +61 45 51.5   19.6     "

The available astrometry, the following retrograde elliptical orbital
elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2013-B77.

                    Epoch = 2012 Dec. 19.0 TT
     T = 2012 Dec. 13.4937 TT         Peri. =  27.2718
     e = 0.674416                     Node  = 145.9061  2000.0
     q = 2.046879 AU                  Incl. = 144.8503
       a =  6.286790 AU    n = 0.0625260    P =  15.76 years


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2013 CBAT
2013 January 22                  (CBET 3389)              Daniel W. E. Green