------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1814 2002 Oct 09 18.31UT 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.theastronomer.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- COMET P/2002 T1 (LINEAR) Peter Birtwhistle, Great Shefford, telephoned on October 4 to report that an image of an object listed on the NEO confirmation page showed it to be a comet. The object was imaged on 2002 October 4.11UT and showed a tail of 1 arc minute in PA231 degrees. Peter subsequently reported the following astrometry obtained from images with the 0.30-m f/6.3 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and CCD: AB90249 C2002 10 04.10561 01 42 15.94 +04 43 55.8 15.6 R J95 AB90249 C2002 10 04.10718 01 42 15.84 +04 44 07.7 15.4 R J95 AB90249 C2002 10 04.10804 01 42 15.79 +04 44 14.4 15.5 R J95 AB90249 C2002 10 04.10891 01 42 15.71 +04 44 21.1 15.5 R J95 AB90249 C2002 10 04.11094 01 42 15.61 +04 44 36.4 15.5 R J95 AB90249 C2002 10 04.11186 01 42 15.55 +04 44 43.3 15.4 R J95 AB90249 C2002 10 04.11273 01 42 15.50 +04 44 50.0 15.5 R J95 AB90249 C2002 10 04.11360 01 42 15.44 +04 44 56.6 15.5 R J95 A note was e-mailed to the TA Checking Group on the evening of October 4. The original discovery by LINEAR was on October 3.25540 with m1=16.2. The following is an extract from M.P.E.C. 2002-T15: Orbital elements: P/2002 T1 (LINEAR) T 2002 Oct. 8.030 TT MPC q 1.19004 (2000.0) P Q n 0.154430 Peri. 1.256 +0.957986 -0.271102 a 3.44071 Node 15.485 +0.259994 +0.683005 e 0.65413 Incl. 20.528 +0.121100 +0.678239 P 6.38 >From 23 observations 2002 Oct. 3-4. Ephemeris: P/2002 T1 (LINEAR) Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase m1 2002 10 09 01 37.45 +15 11.3 0.196 1.190 166.6 11.3 15.2 2002 10 11 01 35.19 +19 23.1 0.198 1.191 165.4 12.2 15.2 2002 10 13 01 32.79 +23 26.4 0.201 1.192 163.4 13.8 15.3 2002 10 15 01 30.29 +27 17.9 0.206 1.193 160.9 15.9 15.3 2002 10 17 01 27.74 +30 55.1 0.211 1.196 158.2 18.1 15.4 2002 10 19 01 25.15 +34 16.4 0.218 1.198 155.5 20.2 15.5 2002 10 21 01 22.57 +37 21.0 0.226 1.201 152.8 22.2 15.6 2002 10 23 01 20.04 +40 08.9 0.235 1.205 150.4 24.1 15.7 2002 10 25 01 17.58 +42 40.2 0.245 1.209 148.1 25.7 15.8 2002 10 27 01 15.25 +44 55.9 0.255 1.214 146.0 27.2 15.9 2002 10 29 01 13.08 +46 56.7 0.267 1.220 144.1 28.5 16.0 IAUC 7983 carried mention of Peter's confirmation of the cometary nature of this object. Guy M Hurst