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IAUC 9073: COMET P/2009 R2 (PIGOTT-LINEAR-KOWALSKI); COMET 88P/HOWELL; 223P

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 9073
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 P/2009 R2 (PIGOTT-LINEAR-KOWALSKI)
     Further to IAUC 9072, elements by B. G. Marsden for epoch 2003:

                    Epoch = 2003 Feb. 10.0 TT
     T = 2003 Feb.  1.2551 TT         Peri. = 357.0844
     e = 0.480777                     Node  =  55.1940  2000.0
     q = 1.915714 AU                  Incl. =  46.2617
       a =  3.689579 AU    n = 0.1390717    P =   7.09 years

    On IAUC 8044, the suggestion was made that P/2003 A1 = 1783 W1,
although it was not possible unequivocally to demonstrate this at
the time.  Running the above orbit back to 1783 (closest approach
to Jupiter 0.19 AU in 1971) yields

                    Epoch = 1783 Nov. 10.0 TT
     T = 1783 Nov. 23.1803 TT         Peri. = 354.0531
     e = 0.578766                     Node  =  58.5969  2000.0
     q = 1.458960 AU                  Incl. =  45.7727
       a =  3.463539 AU    n = 0.1529058    P =   6.45 years

This result compares very favorably with the orbit by C. H. F.
Peters (1860, Bruennow's Astron. Notes, No. 19), notably with T, q,
and Node agreeing to 2.275 days, 0.0003 AU, and 0.08 deg,
respectively.  Although the quality of the observations is poor,
the above orbit by Marsden satisfies fourteen of them made during
1783 Nov. 22-Dec. 4 to within < 10' in each coordinate, provided
that T is corrected to 1783 Nov. 19.59.


COMET 88P/HOWELL
     J. Crovisier, P. Colom, N. Biver, and D. Bockelee-Morvan,
LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, report that observations of the 18-cm
lines of OH in comet 88P/Howell with the Nancay radio telescope
show an increase in the average OH-production rate from 1.0 +/- 0.2
x 10**28 molecules/s during Aug. 1-13 to 4.3 +/- 0.5 x 10**28
molecules/s during Aug. 28-Sept. 3.


COMETS 223P/SKIFF, 224P/LINEAR-NEAT, 225P/LINEAR
     Comet P/2009 L18 = 2002 S1 (cf. IAUC 9066) has been assigned
the permanent number 223P.  Comet P/2009 Q2 = 2003 XD_10 (cf. IAUC
9068) has been assigned the permanent number 224P.  Comet P/2009 Q3
= 2002 T1 (cf. IAUC 9068) has been assigned the permanent number
225P.  (See also MPC 66864).

                      (C) Copyright 2009 CBAT
2009 September 11              (9073)            Daniel W. E. Green

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