Electronic Telegram No. 3989
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 S2 (PANSTARRS)
     R. J. Wainscoat and L. Denneau report the discovery of a comet in four
w-band CCD exposures taken on Sept. 22 with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope at
Haleakala (discovery observations tabulated below), the object appearing
larger than nearby stars of similar brightness and showing a possible very
faint tail extending to the west.  Follow-up r-band CCD images obtained by
Wainscoat and P. Forshay on Sept. 23.43-23.44 UT with the 3.6-m Canada-France-
Hawaii Telescope at Mauna Kea shows an extended object (coma size having FWHM
around 1".35 vs. 0".95 for nearby stars).

     2014 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Sept.22.46935    0 35 40.17   -11 35 46.3   20.9
          22.48214    0 35 39.49   -11 35 46.8   20.9
          22.49497    0 35 38.83   -11 35 47.2   20.9
          22.50780    0 35 38.15   -11 35 47.6   20.9

The available astrometry (including pre-discovery Pan-STARRS observations
from Sept. 2.5 UT), the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements
by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2014-S83.

     T = 2015 Dec. 15.6422 TT         Peri. =  87.4634
                                      Node  =   7.6840  2000.0
     q = 2.133250 AU                  Incl. =  66.5723


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2014 CBAT
2014 September 24                (CBET 3989)              Daniel W. E. Green