Electronic Telegram No. 4288
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 P/2016 N1 = P/2008 J3 (McNAUGHT)
     E. Schwab, Egelsbach, Germany, reports the recovery of comet P/2008 J3
(cf. IAUCs 8942, 8943, 8950) on CCD images obtained by D. Abreu with a 1.0-m
f/4.4 reflector at the European Space Agency's Optical Ground Station,
Tenerife (with measurement assistance by M. Micheli, D. Koschny, A. Knoefel,
and M. Busch); their astrometry is tabulated below.  The comet shows no coma,
but there is a weak wide tail extending at least 15" in p.a. 225 deg, in nine
stacked 60-s exposures taken on July 2.

     2016 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     July  2.17749    0 18 35.85   -19 31 18.2   19.0   Abreu
           2.18427    0 18 36.17   -19 31 16.0   19.0     "
           2.19106    0 18 36.44   -19 31 13.9   18.9     "
           3.18031    0 19 19.81   -19 26 16.3   19.0     "
           3.18635    0 19 20.05   -19 26 14.8   18.9     "
           3.19238    0 19 20.30   -19 26 13.0   18.8     "

The indicated correction to the prediction by S. Nakano in the ICQ's 2015
Comet Handbook is Delta(T) = -0.70 day.  The following linked orbital
elements by G. V. Williams (from 216 observations spanning 2008 May 10-2016
July 3; mean residual 1".1) and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2016-N12.

                    Epoch = 2016 Nov. 28.0 TT
     T = 2016 Nov. 22.16333 TT        Peri. =   4.55969
     e = 0.4105073                    Node  =   9.81056 2000.0
     q = 2.3019659 AU                 Incl. =  25.35030
       a =  3.9049946 AU   n = 0.12772427   P =   7.72 years


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2016 CBAT
2016 July 4                      (CBET 4288)              Daniel W. E. Green