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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 3725      2022 Aug 09 11.44UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074
INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK      Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk
WORLD WIDE WEB                         http://www.theastronomer.org
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COMET 285P/LINEAR

This comet, at its third observed apparition, seems to have undergone an
outburst prior to Aug. 1.35 UT (when it was reported at astrometric
magnitude 16.0 from CCD images taken with a 0.5-m f/2 Schmidt reflector at
Mauna Loa, Hawaii, in the course of the 
(ATLAS) search program, after it had been reported at total mag 20.6 on July
28.63 and 29.56 by T. Oribe with a 1.03-m reflector at Saji, Japan (cf. MPEC
2022-P82).

CCD total magnitudes and coma diameters reported to the Central Bureau: Aug.
6.86 UT, 15.3, 10" (A. Aletti and L. Buzzi, remotely using a 0.36-m
reflector at Hakos, Namibia; twenty-three stacked 30-s exposures show a
condensed coma with a broad tail at least 12" long centered at p.a. 135
degrees; magnitude in aperture of size 5"); Aug. 7.13, 14.8, 0'.35
(K.Yoshimoto, Yamaguchi, Japan, 0.43-m reflector; very condensed coma and
broad tail 0'.3 long in p.a. 140 deg; coma color index V-I = +0.83); Aug.
7.20, 15.1, 0'.5 (C. S. Morris, Fillmore, CA, USA, 0.41-m reflector); Aug.
7.50, 14.9, about 0'.8 (Hirohisa Sato, Sukagawa, Japan, 0.25-m reflector;
strongly condensed coma about 0'.8 in diameter with a short tail about 0'.7
long toward p.a. about 142 degrees in fifteen stacked 60-s exposures); Aug.
7.54, 14.7, 0'.7 (K. Kadota, Ageo, Japan, 0.25-m reflector; strong central
condensation, with a hint of a short tail towards the  southeast).

The ICQ-predicted magnitude now is around 18.5-19 (see ephemeris by S.
Nakano at website URL https://www.oaa.gr.jp/~oaacs/obscmt/E274.htm),
with the comet at r = 1.3 AU and five months prior to perihelion (at q =
1.72 AU).


(CBET 5155)  Daniel W. E. Green

Guy M Hurst

