Circular No. 7036

Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION

Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.

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COMET P/1998 U2 (MUELLER)

The following precise CCD observations have been reported:

1998 UT α_{2000} δ_{2000} m_{1} Observer
Sept.14.41154 1^{h}37^{m}47.^{s}29 +12^{o}32′24′′.3 17.2 Ferris
14.43634 1 37 47.26 +12 32 27.8  _{”}
14.47083 1 37 47.23 +12 32 33.0  _{”}
Oct. 22.84000 1 24 10.61 +12 25 02.1 16  Pravec
22.88941 1 24 09.00 +12 24 56.6 16.0 Kornoš
22.89471 1 24 08.82 +12 24 55.8  Pravec
22.89615 1 24 08.79 +12 24 55.7  Kornoš
22.89756 1 24 08.73 +12 24 55.6  Pravec
22.90795 1 24 08.37 +12 24 54.0  Kornoš
22.90847 1 24 08.33 +12 24 54.9  Tichý
22.90995 1 24 08.31 +12 24 54.5  _{”}
22.91245 1 24 08.22 +12 24 54.4  _{”}
22.94032 1 24 07.30 +12 24 51.2  _{”}
22.94255 1 24 07.32 +12 24 50.2 16  _{”}

W. D. Ferris and B. W. Koehn (LONEOS, Lowell Observatory). Predis-

covery images, apparently asteroidal. P. Pravec (Ondřejov). 0.65-m reflector. Broad tail 0′.4 long in p.a. 140^{o}. L. Kornoš and P. Kolény (Modra). 0.6-m f/5.5 reflector. M. Tichý and Z. Moravec (Kleť). 0.57-m f/5.2 reflector.

Preliminary orbital elements by the undersigned:

T = 1998 Oct. 21.989 TT  ω = 49.^{o}964
e = 0.52326  Ω = 336.310 }2000.0
q = 2.02965 AU  i = 2.201

a = 4.25733 AU n^{o} = 0.112201 P = 8.78 years

1998TT α_{2000}  δ_{2000}  Δ  r  ϵ  β  m_{1}
Oct. 14 1^{h}28.^{m}83 +12^{o}40.^{′}8 1.036 2.031 174.^{o}3 2.^{o}8 16.2
24 1 23.59 +12 22.9 1.039 2.030 172.7  3.6 16.2
Nov. 3 1 19.25 +12 04.2 1.065 2.032 162.1  8.6 16.2
13 1 16.89 +11 51.6 1.113 2.039 151.6 13.3 16.3
23 1 17.17 +11 50.1 1.181 2.049 141.6 17.4 16.5
Dec. 3 1 20.38 +12 02.7 1.265 2.062 132.4 20.7 16.7
13 1 26.40 +12 29.5 1.364 2.079 123.8 23.2 16.9

1998 October 22  \begin{matrix}c \\ ◯ \end{matrix} Copyright 1998 CBAT  Daniel W. E. Green