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IAUC 9090: COMET C/2009 U6 (LINEAR); C/2009 J11, C/2009 J12,, C/2009 K6

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 9090
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 U6 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object discovered by the LINEAR
survey (discovery observation tabulated below), and posted on the
Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, has been found to show
cometary appearance by other CCD astrometrists.  T. Kryachko,
Moscow, writes that images taken by B. Satovski and himself with a
0.3-m f/7.7 reflector at the Zelenchukskaya Station of Engelhardt
Observatory on Oct. 28.1 UT show a diffuse coma of diameter 8" and
a 30" tail in p.a. 290 deg.  F. Fratev (Zvezdno Obshtestvo
Observatory, Plana, Bulgaria, 0.35-m f/3.4 reflector, Oct. 29.1)
reports that fifteen stacked 40-s unfiltered exposures show a
diffuse coma nearly 10" in diameter and a tail about 30" long in
p.a. 305 deg.  J. L. Montani notes that roughly-120-s drift-scan
images taken by T. H. Bressi on Oct. 29.5 with the Spacewatch
1.8-m reflector at Kitt Peak show a straight, fan-shaped, 80" tail
in p.a. 288 deg; the tail is 15" wide at 80" from the nucleus.

     2009 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Oct. 27.43474    9 44 36.35   +13 04 54.7   18.2

The available astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic
orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2009-U126.

     T = 2009 Aug. 26.433 TT          Peri. = 319.286
                                      Node  = 115.014   2000.0
     q = 1.61891 AU                   Incl. =  14.334


COMETS C/2009 J11, C/2009 J12, AND C/2009 K6 (SOHO)
     Further to IAUC 9088, two additional near-sun presumed comets
have been found on SOHO website images.  C/2009 J11, a Kreutz
sungrazer, was tiny and stellar in appearance in C3 images (peak
mag about 7-7.5), but slightly diffuse with a hint of a very faint
tail in C2 images.  C/2009 J12 (a Marsden-group member; mag about
7.5-8) and C/2009 K6 (also a Kreutz sungrazer; mag about 7) were
also stellar in appearance.

 Comet        2009 UT      R.A.(2000)Decl.   Inst.  F    MPEC
 C/2009 J11   May 13.221    3 23.9  +16 24    C3/2  BZ   2009-N49
 C/2009 J12       15.579    3 34.5  +19 23    C2    RK   2009-N49
 C/2009 K6        17.229    3 38.0  +17 48    C2    BZ   2009-N49

                      (C) Copyright 2009 CBAT
2009 October 29                (9090)            Daniel W. E. Green

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