Electronic Telegram No. 3974
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 C/2014 QU_2 (PANSTARRS)
     R. Wainscoat, P. Veres, M. Micheli, and B. Bolin report that an
apparently asteroidal object discovered on two i-band images taken on Aug. 16
with the Pan-STARRS 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien reflector at Haleakala (discovery
observations tabulated below), and given the minor-planet designation 2014
QU_2 when announced on MPEC 2014-Q13, has now been found to be cometary.
Three w-band exposures from the Pan-STARRS1 telescope obtained on Sept. 16
show a tail extending for approximately 3" in p.a. 90 degrees, and three
i-band exposures taken on Sept. 11 also show cometary appearance.  However,
additional analysis of the discovery images from Aug. 16 do not show a sign
of cometary appearance.  Bolin obtained three 60-s and three 240-s unfiltered
follow-up exposures of 2014 QU_2 with the University of Hawaii 2.2-m
telescope on Sept. 17.3 UT that show the object to be clearly extended in all
six images; the longer exposures reveal a tail that is approximately 9" long
in p.a. 100 degrees (measurements by Micheli).

     2014 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Aug. 16.59333    1 13 08.41   -25 34 37.9   19.8
          16.60083    1 13 06.55   -25 34 43.8   20.0

The available astrometry, the following elliptical orbital elements by
G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2014-S10.

                    Epoch = 2014 July  2.0 TT
     T = 2014 July  9.8985 TT         Peri. = 320.4667
     e = 0.990920                     Node  = 333.0002  2000.0
     q = 2.223227 AU                  Incl. = 124.8152


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2014 CBAT
2014 September 17                (CBET 3974)              Daniel W. E. Green