Electronic Telegram No. 4309
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)
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Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


COMET P/2016 N6 (PANSTARRS)
      R. Wainscoat, R. Weryk, and E. Lilly report the discovery of another
comet in four r-band exposures obtained with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope
at Haleakala on July 14 UT (discovery observations tabulated below, along
with pre-discovery Pan-STARRS1 observations identified later from June 27.4,
when the magnitude was given as 20.8-21.0).  In each of the July 14 images,
the object appears to be extended; in a co-added image, the object has a
full-width-at-half-maximum of 1".25, compared to adjacent stars that had
FWHM ranging from 1".0 to 1".1 in the four exposures.

     2014 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Jul. 14.41721   18 01 18.19  +37 39 47.2    20.7   Pan-STARRS
     Jul. 14.42863   18 01 17.58  +37 39 47.2    20.8     "
     Jul. 14.44001   18 01 17.05  +37 39 47.2    20.8     "
     Jul. 14.45142   18 01 16.47  +37 39 47.0    20.9     "

After the comet was posted on the Minor Planet Center's PCCP webpage, other
CCD astrometrists have also commented on the object's cometary appearance.

H. Sato, Tokyo, Japan, writes that sixteen stacked 60-s images taken with an
iTelescope 0.61-m f/6.5 astrograph (+ luminance filter) located at the Sierra
Remote Observatory near Auberry, CA, USA, on July 15.4 UT show the comet to
be strongly condensed with an elongated coma of  size 5" x 7" with no tail
and magnitude 19.8 as measured within a circular aperture of radius 3".7.
Forty co-added images taken by R. Holmes (Ashmore, IL, USA) with a 1.3-m f/4
astrograph at Westfield, IL, on Aug. 28.1 show a round 5".6 coma and very
narrow 3".7 tail in p.a. 129.8 deg.  J. V. Scotti reports that images taken
with the Spacewatch 1.8-m f/2.7 reflector on Aug. 6.3 show only stellar
appearance.

The available astrometry, the following highly elliptical orbital elements
by G. V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2016-Q33.

                    Epoch = 2018 July 21.0 TT
     T = 2018 July 18.26881 TT        Peri. = 162.80960
     e = 0.9985778                    Node  = 298.97277  2000.0
     q = 2.6690885                    Incl. = 105.83021


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2016 CBAT
2016 August 29                   (CBET 4309)              Michael Rudenko