Sunday, March 5, 2017

New Comet: C/2017 E1 (Borisov)

CBET nr. 4369, issued on 2017, March 04, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~17) by Gennadii Vladimirovich Borisov on three unfiltered 120-s exposures obtained on Mar. 1.10 UT with a 0.4-m f/2.3 astrograph at the "Mobil Astronomical Robotics Genon" Observatory (MARGO) near Nauchnij. The new comet has been designated C/2017 E1 (Borisov)

I performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 20 unfiltered exposures, 30 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2017, March 1.5 from H06 (iTelescope network) through a 0.43-m f/6.8 reflector + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer, shows that this object is a comet with a diffuse coma nearly 30 arcsec in diameter.

My confirmation image (click on it for a bigger version)



M.P.E.C. 2017-E42 assigns the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2017 E1: T 2017 Apr. 9.8; e= 1.0; Peri. =  151.90; q = 0.90;  Incl.= 14.54


by Ernesto Guido

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