Electronic Telegram No. 3827
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 E1 (LARSON)
     Stephen M. Larson, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona,
reports his discovery of a comet on CCD images taken with the Catalina Sky
Survey's 0.68-m Schmidt telescope (discovery astrometry tabulated below), the
object having a 20" coma and a 40" tail in p.a. 280 deg.

     2014 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Mar. 10.44839   14 37 43.36   - 6 17 26.7   16.8   Larson
          10.45571   14 37 43.48   - 6 17 29.6   17.0     "
          10.46305   14 37 43.58   - 6 17 33.7   17.0     "
          10.47037   14 37 43.57   - 6 17 36.3   16.8     "

     After posting on the Minor Planet Center's PCCP webpage, other CCD
astrometrists have commented on the object's cometary appearance.  H. Sato,
Tokyo, Japan, writes that eight stacked 60-s exposures taken remotely with a
0.32-m f/8 astrograph at the RAS Observatory near Nerpio, Spain on Mar. 11.15
UT reveal a strongly condensed coma of diameter 25" and a fan-like tail 40"
long toward p.a. 245-315 degrees; also, eight stacked 60-s images taken by
Sato remotely with an iTelescope 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph near Mayhill, NM,
U.S.A., on Mar. 11.47 show a strongly condensed coma 25" in diameter and a 2'
fan-like tail toward p.a. 245-310 degrees.  Fifteen stacked 2-min images
obtained by D. T. Durig, E. W. Benjamin, C. C. Fisher, and N. J. Gideon with a
0.3-m f/2.5 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at Sewanee, TN, U.S.A., on Mar. 11.3
show a diffuse object with a 45" tail in p.a. 280-285 deg.  William H. Ryan
(Magdalena Ridge Observatory, 2.4-m f/8.9 reflector + R-band filter; Mar.
11.4) notes a distinct coma and a tail in p.a. about 290 deg.  G. Hug
(Scranton, KS, U.S.A.; 0.56-m reflector; Mar. 11.4) measures a tail in p.a.
about 290 deg whose first 20" is bright but with a fainter extension to
about 40".  R. Ligustri (Udine, Italy) finds a tail about 30" long in p.a.
294 deg in four 180-s images taken with an iTelescope 0.50-m f/4.5 reflector
near Mayhill on Mar. 11.45-11.46.  J.-F. Soulier, Maisoncelles, Seine et
Marne, France, reports that forty 120-s unfiltered images taken with a 0.3-m
f/3.8 Newtonian reflector on Mar. 11.1-11.2 show a 19" coma and a 1' tail
in p.a. 285 deg.  T. Prystavski writes that six 180-s images taken by A.
Novichonok with a 0.61-m f/6.5 astrograph at the Sierra Remote Observatory
(Auberry, CA, USA; with Luminance filter; Mar. 11.35-11.36) reveal a 0'.4
tail in p.a. 296 deg.  L. Buzzi (Varese, Italy; 0.60-m f/4.64 reflector;
Mar. 12.14-12.16) finds a sharp central condensation with a coma 14" wide and
a broad tail at least 35" long centered at p.a. 290 deg.

     The available astrometry (including pre-discovery Catalina observations
from Jan. 21), the following elliptical orbital elements by G. V. Williams,
and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2014-E78.

                    Epoch = 2014 May  23.0 TT
     T = 2014 May  24.4903 TT         Peri. = 186.8642
     e = 0.419481                     Node  =  38.9975  2000.0
     q = 2.132729 AU                  Incl. =  16.0031
       a =  3.673833 AU    n = 0.1399668    P =   7.04 years


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

                         (C) Copyright 2014 CBAT
2014 March 12                    (CBET 3827)              Daniel W. E. Green