Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 9143: C/2010 J1
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Circular No. 9143
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director: D. W. E. Green, Room 209; Department of
Earth and Planetary Sciences; Harvard University;
20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA 02138; U.S.A.
CBAT@IAU.ORG; CBATIAU@EPS.HARVARD.EDU
URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html ISSN 0081-0304
COMET C/2010 J1 (BOATTINI)
A. Boattini reports his discovery of a strongly condensed
comet with a 20" coma and a tail at least 60"-80" long in p.a. 155
deg on Catalina Sky Survey CCD images taken with the 0.68-m Schmidt
telescope (discovery observation tabulated below). Following
posting on the Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, numerous
other CCD astrometrists have remarked on the object's cometary
appearance. E. Guido and G. Sostero (observing remotely with a
0.25-m reflector located near Mayhill, NM, May 6.4 UT) report that
co-added, unfiltered exposures show a diffuse coma nearly 15" in
diameter with a broad, fan-shaped tail about 1' long toward the
southeast. S. Foglia writes that stacked images taken by P.
Concari, G. Galli, M. Tombelli, and himself remotely at the Tzec
Maun Observatory (Cloudcroft, NM) show a 10" coma and a tail with
dimensions 40" in p.a. 180 deg on May 6.45-6.46 (0.18-m f/7.3
refractor) and 50" in p.a. 140 deg on May 7.34 (0.18-m f/2.8
reflector). A. Novichonok (Kondopoga, Russia) and D. Chestnov
(Saransk, Russia) report that stacked images taken remotely by T.
Kryachko (Moscow, Russia) with the 0.3-m Astrotel reflector at
Zelenchukskaya Station on May 6.9 show a round, very diffuse coma
of diameter 0'.35 with an almost-stellar central condensation and a
wide tail of length 0'.6 in p.a. 10-30 deg. M. Busch and D.
Koschny measure a 15" coma and a 1'.5 tail in p.a. 160 deg on
exposures taken by L. D. Palmero with the 1.0-m reflector of the
ESA Optical Ground Station at Tenerife on May 6.95. F. Fratev
(0.35-m reflector, Plana, Bulgaria, May 7.1) notes that stacked,
unfiltered exposures reveal a diffuse coma nearly 20" in diameter
and a tail about 40" long in p.a. 162 deg. H. Sato (Ota-ku, Tokyo,
Japan; 0.25-m reflector remotely at the RAS Observatory, Mayhill,
May 7.3) finds a condensed 15" coma with a 55" tail in p.a. 165 deg.
D. T. Durig (Sewanee, TN, U.S.A., 0.30-m reflector, May 7.3) used a
stack of twenty 30-s images to measure a 25" coma and a 75" tail in
p.a. 170 deg. J. E. McGaha (Tucson, AZ, U.S.A., 0.36-m reflector,
May 7.4) reports that a 60-s exposure shows a bright stellar
nuclear condensation with a 60" fan-shaped tail in p.a. 300 deg.
T. Yusa (Osaki, Japan; remotely using a 0.25-m reflector at RAS
Observatory, Mayhill, May 7.4) measures a 20" condensed coma with a
60" tail in p.a. 165 deg.
2010 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer
May 6.38093 16 54 51.30 + 6 48 31.7 15.8 Boattini
The available astrometry, preliminary parabolic orbital elements (T
= 2010 Jan. 31.598 TT, q = 1.60295 AU, Peri. = 327.002 deg, Node =
253.863 deg, i = 132.931 deg, equinox 2000.0), and an ephemeris
appear on MPEC 2010-J32.
(C) Copyright 2010 CBAT
2010 May 7 (9143) Daniel W. E. Green
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