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IAUC 9070: COMET C/2009 Q5 (McNAUGHT); C/2009 D7, C/2009 D8

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 9070
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html  ISSN 0081-0304
Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)


COMET C/2009 Q5 (McNAUGHT)
     R. H. McNaught reports his discovery of a comet with a
circular 18" coma on CCD images obtained with the 0.5-m Uppsala
Schmidt telescope (discovery tabulated below); five stacked 30-s
images obtained after moonset on Aug. 31.7-31.8 UT show a 0'.4 coma
and a 50" tail in p.a. 285 deg.  After posting on the Minor Planet
Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, other CCD astrometrists have noted the
object's cometary appearance.  S. Foglia reports that fifteen
stacked 60-s CCD images taken by R. Holmes (Charleston, IL, U.S.A.,
0.61-m telescope) reveal a round coma of diameter 10" with a 30"
tail in p.a. 260 deg.  Fifteen stacked 120-s unfiltered exposures
taken remotely on Sept. 1.3 by E. Guido and G. Sostero with a
0.25-m reflector near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A., show a compact coma of
diameter about 12" and a broad tail nearly 20" long in p.a. 255
deg.  H. Sato (Tokyo, Japan, remotely using a Rent-A-Scope 0.25-m
reflector near Mayhill on Sept. 1.35) finds a diffuse coma of
diameter 8"-20" and no tail.  Frames taken by R. Miles with the
Haleakala 2.0-m 'Faulkes Telescope North' on Sept. 1.6 show a
diffuse 15" coma elongated toward p.a. 285 deg.

     2009 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Aug. 31.63470    1 29 04.36   -17 26 52.9   17.0   McNaught

     The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic
orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2009-R02.

     T = 2010 Mar. 11.218 TT          Peri. = 293.151
                                      Node  = 160.070   2000.0
     q = 1.55732 AU                   Incl. =  40.823


COMETS C/2009 D7 AND C/2009 D8 (SOHO)
     Further to IAUC 9059, additional presumed comets have been
found on SOHO website images.  C/2009 D7 was bright (mag about 4)
with a short tail in LASCO C3 images, while it showed a short tail
and faded quickly in C2 images; this comet was also detected in
STEREO COR2-A and COR2-B images with a tail about 0.3 deg long.
C/2009 D8 was slightly elongated, small, and stellar in apperance
(mag about 7, but it faded rapidly).

 Comet        2009 UT       R.A.(2000)Decl.   Inst.  F    MPEC
 C/2009 D7    Feb. 26.029   23 09.7  -10 31   C3/2*  MU   2009-N01
 C/2009 D8         26.129   22 42.2  - 7 03   C2     BZ   2009-N01

                      (C) Copyright 2009 CBAT
2009 September 1               (9070)            Daniel W. E. Green

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