Electronic Telegram No. 3617
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 N5 (PANSTARRS)
     Bryce Bolin, Richard Wainscoat, and Larry Denneau report the discovery
of a comet in four 45-s exposures from the Pan-STARRS1 telescope on Haleakala
on July 14 (discovery observations tabulated below); the object then showed a
diffuse, non-stellar appearance with a tail about 3".6 long in p.a. 240
degrees.  Follow-up images obtained by Richard Wainscoat and Marco Micheli
on July 15.6 UT with the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (queue observer
Peter Forshay) show a broad 6" tail to the southwest, with an almost stellar
nuclear condensation; their additional images on Aug. 1.6 and 3.6 show a
broad, diffuse, faint 6" tail to the southwest (queue observer David Woodworth
on Aug. 3).

     2013 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     July 14.57773    2 38 30.09   +14 24 31.8   21.4
          14.58168    2 38 30.66   +14 24 31.4   21.4
          14.58563    2 38 31.22   +14 24 31.2   21.3
          14.58959    2 38 31.80   +14 24 30.9   21.3

The available astrometry, the following elliptical orbital elements by G. V.
Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2013-P17.

                    Epoch = 2013 July  7.0 TT
     T = 2013 July  1.9282 TT         Peri. = 175.9713
     e = 0.715628                     Node  = 187.6265  2000.0
     q = 1.816625 AU                  Incl. =  23.2206
       a =  6.388208 AU    n = 0.0610430    P =  16.15 years


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2013 CBAT
2013 August 3                    (CBET 3617)              Daniel W. E. Green