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COMET P/2011 R3 (NOVICHONOK)
Artyom Novichonok reports his discovery of a new comet (discovery
observation tabulated below) on six images taken during Sept. 7.02-7.05 UT
using a 0.4-m "Jigit" telescope at the TAU station of the Ka-Dar Observatory
(located near Nizhniy Arkhyz, Russia), with the object showing a small,
condensed coma of diameter 12" and an obvious tail 0'.6 long in p.a. 261 deg.
After posting on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, other CCD
astrometrists have also noted cometary appearance in this object. N. Howes,
G. Sostero, and E. Guido stacked six 60-s R-band exposures taken on Sept. 8.4
with the the 2.0-m f/10 "Faulkes Telescope North" at Haleakala, which show a
sharp central condensation in a coma that is nearly 4" in diameter, elongated
toward the southwest, with a broad tail at least 7" long toward p.a. 252 deg.
G. Hug (Scranton, KS, U.S.A.; 0.56-m reflector) reports a well-defined narrow
tail extending about 1' in p.a. 270 deg on his images from Sept. 8.4 and 9.3.
T. H. Bressi used the Spacewatch 1.8-m f/2.7 reflector on Sept. 9.3 to find
a tail 11" long in p.a. 5 deg.
2011 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. Mag. Observer
Sept. 7.02309 2 11 27.59 + 8 17 00.2 18.9 Novichonok
The available astrometry, the following preliminary elliptical orbital
elements by the undersigned, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2011-R34.
P/2011 R3 (Novichonok)
T 2011 Aug. 23.35669 TT MPC
q 3.5852086 (2000.0) P Q
n 0.09206921 Peri. 189.67625 +0.94520014 -0.32236318
a 4.8572796 Node 189.62059 +0.31642393 +0.94353338
e 0.2618896 Incl. 18.04041 +0.08045246 +0.07633302
P 10.7
From 44 observations 2011 Sept. 7-9.
http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K11/K11R34.html .
