Circular No. 7713

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/2001 R1 (LONEOS)

An apparently asteroidal object discovered by LONEOS and posted on the NEO Confirmation Page has been found cometary. CCD astrometry:

2001 UT α_{2000} δ_{2000} m_{1} Observer
Sept.10.19298 21^{h}36^{m}46.^{s}25 −25^{o}58′32′′.1  LONEOS
10.20393 21 36 45.63 −25 58 31.9  _{”}
10.21490 21 36 44.92 −25 58 32.3  _{”}
10.22590 21 36 44.17 −25 58 34.8  _{”}
11.17999 21 35 45.43 −25 59 42.5  Dyvig
11.18628 21 35 45.02 −25 59 42.4  _{”}
11.19080 21 35 44.74 −25 59 43.6  _{”}
11.19527 21 35 44.53 −25 59 43.2  _{”}
11.20507 21 35 43.70 −25 59 44.5 18.4 Smalley
11.23247 21 35 41.97 −25 59 45.9 18.4  _{”}
11.24603 21 35 41.12 −25 59 46.9 18.4  _{”}
11.55271 21 35 22.46 −25 59 55.4 17.3 Gilmore
11.55449 21 35 22.33 −25 59 55.8 17.2  _{”}
11.55599 21 35 22.21 −25 59 55.5 17.8  _{”}
11.56196 21 35 21.85 −25 59 55.9 17.3  _{”}

LONEOS (Lowell Observatory). 0.59-m Schmidt telescope. Red mag 17.6. R. Dyvig (Quinn, SD). 0.66-m reflector. Object diffuse and uncondensed,

with slight hint of a tail to the northeast; low altitude and haze. K. Smalley and R. Fredrick (Louisburg, KS). 0.75-m reflector. Coma di-

ameter 2′′, elongated 5′′ toward in p.a. 45^{o}. A. C. Gilmore (Mt. John). 1.0-m refl. Broad tail ∼ 15′′ long in p.a. 40^{o}.

Preliminary orbital elements from the above observations:

T = 2002 Jan. 30.672 TT  ω = 20.^{o}216
e = 0.66247  Ω = 35.664 }2000.0
q = 1.33805 AU  i = 6.838

a = 3.96430 AU n^{o} = 0.124869 P = 7.89 years

2001TT α_{2000} δ_{2000} Δ r ϵ β m_{1}
Sept. 8 21^{h}39.^{m}09 −25^{o}54.^{′}9 1.163 2.101 151.^{o}0 13.^{o}4 17.6
18 21 29.39 −26 00.4 1.150 2.026 140.0 18.6 17.4
28 21 22.75 −25 38.4 1.154 1.950 129.4 23.4 17.2
Oct. 8 21 20.08 −24 50.6 1.170 1.876 119.6 27.6 17.1
18 21 21.73 −23 39.8 1.194 1.804 110.6 31.1 16.9
2001 September 11  \begin{matrix}c \\ ◯ \end{matrix} Copyright 2001 CBAT  Daniel W. E. Green