CBET nr. 4373, issued on 2017, March 13, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~15) by Terry James Lovejoy on three CCD 8-s exposures taken five minutes apart starting on Mar. 9.684 UT with a Celestron C14 reflector operating at f/1.9 (+ QHY9 camera). The new comet has been designated C/2017 E4 (LOVEJOY).
I performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 10 unfiltered exposures, 30 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2017, March 10.7 from Q62 (iTelescope network) through a 0.50-m f/6.8 astrograph + CCD + focal reducer, shows that this object is a comet with a diffuse coma nearly 15 arcsec in diameter.
My confirmation image (click on it for a bigger version)
M.P.E.C. 2017-E86 assigns the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2017 E4: T 2017 Apr. 23.3; e= 1.0; Peri. = 87.21; q = 0.49; Incl.= 88.23
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| Discovery image set from March 9.68, 2017. Credit. T. Lovejoy |
by Ernesto Guido
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