CBET 5028 & MPEC 2021-Q102, issued on 2021, August 31 & September 02, announce the discovery of a new comet (magnitude ~20) on CCD images taken on August 26.2 UT with the Mt. Lemmon Survey (G96) 1.5-m reflector. The new comet has been designated C/2021 Q4 (Fuls).
Stacking of 30 unfiltered exposures, 120 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2021, August 29.9 from Z08 (Telescope Live, Oria) through a 0.7 m f/8 Ritchey Chretien + CCD, shows that this object is a comet with a compact coma about 8" arcsec in diameter elongated toward PA 275 (Observers E. Guido, M. Rocchetto, E. Bryssinck, M. Fulle, G. Milani, C. Nassef, G. Savini, A. Valvasori).
Our confirmation image (click on the images for a bigger version; made with TYCHO software by D. Parrott)
MPEC 2021-Q102, assigns the following preliminary orbital elements to comet C/2021 Q4 (Fuls): T 2023 June 10.66; e= 1.0030276; Peri. = 147.01; q = 7.56 ; Incl.= 71.47. The comet will pass 2.45 AU from Saturn on 2025 Apr. 30 UT.
 |
| Credit: MPC |
by Ernesto Guido
