Electronic Telegram No. 3780
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/2014 A2 (HILL)
     [Editor's note:  this text replaces that on CBET 3779 (correct dates).]
     R. E. Hill reports his discovery of a comet on CCD images taken with the
Catalina Sky Survey's 0.68-m Schmidt telescope (discovery observations
tabulated below); four co-added 40-s exposures taken in 4"-5" seeing on the
discovery night show a condensed nuclear condensation around 7"-10" across and
a fan-shaped tail 25"-30" long in p.a. about 270 deg, while follow-up images
taken on Jan. 10.42-10.48 UT in 3"-5" seeing show a similar appearance, with
the tail about 20"-25" long in p.a. about 270-275 deg.  Follow-up images by
J. A. Johnson with the Mount Lemmon 1.5-m reflector on Jan. 11.5 show a clearly
visible coma about 6" in diameter and a tail in p.a. about 275 deg.  After
posting on the Minor Planet Center's PCCP webpage, other CCD astrometrists have
also commented on the object's cometary appearance.  J. V. Scotti writes that
twenty-seven stacked exposures taken with the Spacewatch 1.8-m telescope at
Kitt Peak on Jan. 10.55-10.56 show a 15" coma with a 0'.60 tail in p.a. 275
degrees, while twelve co-added 60-s exposures on Jan. 11.5 show a 13" coma with
a 0'.65 tail in p.a. 274 degrees.  H. Sato (Tokyo, Japan; remotely with an
iTelescope 0.51-m f/6.8 astrograph + luminance filter near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.;
ten stacked 60-s exposures; Jan. 10.5) finds a moderately condensed coma of
diameter 10" and a 30" tail toward p.a. 270 degrees, with magnitude 19.3 as
measured within a circular aperture of radius 6".5.  S. Foglia writes that
seventy-five stacked 10-s images reveal a very diffuse round coma of diameter
12" in images taken by R. Holmes (Ashmore, IL, USA) on Jan. 14.4 with a 0.61-m
f/4 astrograph of the Astronomical Research Observatory at Westfield.

     2014 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Jan.  9.42551   10 23 39.27   +28 30 45.6   18.5   Hill
           9.43066   10 23 39.37   +28 30 51.7   18.8     "
           9.43581   10 23 39.43   +28 30 57.2   18.6     "
           9.44095   10 23 39.48   +28 31 02.6   18.5     "
           9.45355   10 23 39.72   +28 31 16.7   19.0     "
           9.45937   10 23 39.81   +28 31 24.2   19.0     "
           9.46515   10 23 39.84   +28 31 30.9   18.2     "
           9.47091   10 23 39.86   +28 31 36.2   18.7     "

The available astrometry, the following preliminary elliptical orbital
elements by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2014-B01.

     T = 2013 Oct. 28.3871 TT         Peri. = 356.2476
     e = 0.649491                     Node  = 106.6719  2000.0
     q = 2.074732 AU                  Incl. =  24.5132
       a =  5.919191 AU    n = 0.0684401    P =  14.40 years


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

                         (C) Copyright 2014 CBAT
2014 January 16                  (CBET 3780)              Daniel W. E. Green