Electronic Telegram No. 4149
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Mailing address:  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/2015 T2 (PANSTARRS)
     R. Weryk and E. Lilly report that an apparently asteroidal object
discovered in four w-band exposures taken with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope
at Haleakala on Oct. 9.5 UT (discovery observations tabulated below) was
followed up with observations with the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at
Mauna Kea by R. J. Wainscoat and L. Wells on Oct. 10.59, and by Wainscoat and
C. Wipper on Oct. 12.60, that show cometary appearance.  Wainscoat noted that
the three 40-s w-band exposures taken on Oct. 10.6 show that the comet
appears to be extended with a short tail towards position angle 90 degrees; M.
Micheli, Wainscoat, and Weryk write that the Oct. 12.6 frames show the comet
to show a diffuse coma that is elongated toward the east.  Further analysis
of the original observations from Oct. 9.5 by Weryk and Lilly show that the
comet also appeared "fuzzy" then, but there is no obvious tail visible in the
stacked image.

     2015 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Oct.  9.47107    4 08 17.58   +11 27 26.4   21.8
           9.48324    4 08 17.17   +11 27 26.8   21.5
           9.49541    4 08 16.75   +11 27 27.1   21.6
           9.50752    4 08 16.35   +11 27 27.7   21.8

The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements
by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2015-T77.

     T = 2017 Apr.  4.9331 TT         Peri. =  26.3128
                                      Node  =  50.9867  2000.0
     q = 7.176522 AU                  Incl. = 124.9931


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2015 CBAT
2015 October 13                  (CBET 4149)              Daniel W. E. Green