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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

New Comets: C/2010 E1 (Garradd) & P/2010 E2 (Jarnac)

C/2010 E1 (Garradd)

IAU circular No. 9124 issued on 2010, March 12, announces the discovery by G. J. Garradd of a comet on CCD images taken with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope in the course of the Siding Spring Survey. After posting on the Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, other observers have noted the cometary appearance of this 18.5 magnitude object, designated C/2010 E1 (GARRADD).

We have been able to confirm this object remotely, through the GRAS network, using a scope located in Mayhill (NM): on 2010, March 12.2, co-adding of 15 unfiltered exposures, 120-seconds each obtained by means of a 0.25-m, f/3.4 reflector + CCD, show a diffuse coma nearly 10" in diameter with a a broad fan-tail about 20-arcsec long in PA 240-degrees.

Our confirming image:



The first and preliminary orbit for comet C/2010 E1 (Garradd) indicates perihelion already on Oct. 24, 2009, at about 2.6 AU.

According to COCD webpage this is the 15th comet for Garradd, and the 68th comet for the Siding Spring Survey.


P/2010 E2 (Jarnac)

IAU circular No. 9125 issued on 2010, March 13, announces that an apparently asteroidal object reported by T. Glinos on CCD images taken with a 0.64-m f/7.2 Ritchey-Chretien telescope at the Jarnac Observatory (observers listed as D. Levy, W. Levy, and T. Glinos) has been found to show cometary appearance by other CCD astrometrists. Moreover the MPC was also able to link observations of the Mt. Lemmon Survey obtained on Feb. 17, 2010.

We have been able to follow-up this object remotely, through the GRAS network, using a scope located in Mayhill (NM). Below you can see our image taken on 2010, March 13.3, co-adding of 10 unfiltered exposures, 120-seconds each obtained by means of a 0.25-m, f/3.4 reflector + CCD:



The orbit for comet P/2010 E2 (Jarnac) shows perihelion on Apr. 7, 2010, at about 2.4 AU

This is the first amateur discovery in 2010!!

by Ernesto Guido & Giovanni Sostero

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