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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1432      1999 Aug 04 21.09UT
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             GMH at AST.STAR.RL.AC.UK
WORLD WIDE WEB                    http://www.demon.co.uk/astronomer
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COMET C/1999 N4 (LINEAR)
Another LINEAR discovery with unusual motion placed in The NEO
Confirmation Page has been found to have a retrograde orbit:

     1999 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.        m2
     July 12.25443   19 13 44.43   + 1 07 42.1   18.2

At the request of the Central Bureau, some of the observers making
astrometric observations examined their images carefully and have
concluded that the object is a comet.  M. Tichy (Klet, 0.6-m
reflector) noted comae of diameter about 6" on July 14.9 and about
7" on July 15.9 UT. L. Sarounova (Ondrejov, 0.6-m reflector)
indicated a small coma, some lack of condensation but no tail on
July 16.9.  F. B. Zoltowski (Woomera, 0.3-m reflector) remarked on
a compact, diffuse image with an asymmetrical distribution that may
indicate a small, faint tail at p.a. around 90 deg on July 17.6.

Further astrometric observations, the following preliminary (and
rather rough) parabolic orbital elements and an ephemeris are given on
MPEC 1999-O06:

     T = 2000 May   3.239 TT          Peri. =  87.861
                                      Node  = 345.805   2000.0
     q = 5.57961 AU                   Incl. = 156.895
IAUC 7226

David Hurst