Electronic Telegram No. 3668
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 T1 (PANSTARRS)
     Richard Wainscoat, Larry Denneau, Peter Veres, Bryce Bolin, and Marco
Micheli, report the discovery of a comet on four w-band CCD images taken with
the Pan-STARRS1 telescope at Haleakala; the object appears cometary on each
image with a relatively compact nuclear condensation and a short, diffuse tail
extending for approximately 4" in p.a. approximately 220 degrees.  After
posting on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, other CCD astrometrists
have also commented on the object's cometary appearance.  R. S. McMillan,
University of Arizona, writes that images taken on Oct. 6.23-6.25 UT with the
Spacewatch 1.8-m telescope at Kitt Peak show a 9" tail toward p.a. 225 deg.
W. H. Ryan reports that R-band images taken on Oct. 8.15-8.17 with the
Magdalena Ridge Observatory 2.4-m f/8.9 reflector show a distinct tail at
p.a. about 200 deg.  H. Sato, Tokyo, Japan, found a moderately condensed coma
of diameter 8"-10" in images obtained on Oct. 8.2 with an iTelescope
0.51-m f/6.8 astrograph (+ luminance filter) located near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.
Images taken by R. Holmes (Ashmore, IL, USA; 0.81-m f/4 astrograph; measured
by Holmes, T. Linder, S. Foglia, L. Buzzi, and T. Vorobjov) on Oct. 8.3 show
a narrow tail 19" long in p.a. 219.6 degrees.

     2013 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Oct.  5.37396    1 24 30.21   +16 57 31.8   21.8
           5.38756    1 24 29.31   +16 57 40.4   21.3
           5.40120    1 24 28.38   +16 57 48.8   21.6
           5.41483    1 24 27.45   +16 57 57.7   21.5

The available astrometry (including prediscovery observations on Sept. 13.4
and Oct. 4.3 UT from the Mount Lemmon Survey), the following preliminary
elliptical orbital elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on
MPEC 2013-T76.

     T = 2013 July 31.3161 TT         Peri. = 345.8687
     e = 0.623630                     Node  =  10.2933  2000.0
     q = 2.211666 AU                  Incl. =  24.2325
       a =  5.876312 AU    n = 0.0691905    P =  14.24 years


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2013 CBAT
2013 October 8                   (CBET 3668)              Daniel W. E. Green