New Comet: C/2015 V2 (JOHNSON)

CBET nr. 4161, issued on 2015, November 05, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~17.1) by J. A. Johnson on CCD images obtained with the Catalina Sky Survey's 0.68-m Schmidt telescope on Nov. 3.5 UT. The new comet has been designated C/2015 V2 (JOHNSON).

I performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 12 unfiltered exposures, 120 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2015, November 04.4 from H06 (iTelescope network - New Mexico) through a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer, shows that this object is a comet: compact coma nearly 10 arcsec in diameter elongated toward PA 230.

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

M.P.E.C. 2015-V44 assigns the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2015 V2: T 2017 Feb. 14.70; e= 1.0; Peri. =  188.19; q = 0.93;  Incl.= 41.14

Below you can see a graph generated using the software Orbitas and showing the C/2015 V2 predicted magnitude (in red) versus its elongation from the Sun. Click on the image for a bigger version. (A word of caution: as always with comets, the future magnitudes reported here are only indicative and based on a very preliminary orbit).

by Ernesto Guido

New Comet: C/2014 F1 (HILL)

Cbet nr. 3840, issued on 2014, April 01, announces the discovery of a comet (~ magnitude 18.6) on CCD images taken on 2014, March 29.4 by R. E. Hill with the Catalina Sky Survey's 0.68-m Schmidt telescope. The new comet has been designated C/2014 F1 (HILL).

We performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 10 unfiltered exposures, 60-sec each, obtained remotely on 2014, March 30.4 from H06 (iTelescope network - New Mexico) through a 0.50-m f/6.8 astrograph + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer, shows that this object is a comet: coma about 5" in diameter elongated toward PA 215.

Our confirmation image (click on it for a bigger version).

 

 

M.P.E.C. 2014-G02 assigns the following very preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2014 F1: T 2013 Oct. 27.18; e= 1.0; Peri. = 13.93; q = 3.62;  Incl.= 108.91

by Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes & Martino Nicolini

New Comet: C/2012 T6 (KOWALSKI)

Cbet nr. 3259, issued on 2012, October 18, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 17.6) by R. A. Kowalski on Catalina Sky Survey images obtained with the 0.68-m Schmidt telescope on October 15.4. The new comet has been designated C/2012 T6 (KOWALSKI).

We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 7 R-filtered exposures, 30-sec each, obtained remotely,from the Siding Spring-Faulkes Telescope South on 2012, Oct. 16.63, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD under good seeing conditions,shows that this object is a comet: narrow tail nearly 13" long in PA 290 and a wide, fan-shaped tail about 20" long toward the North-northwest sharp coma about 7" in diameter.

Our confirmation image (click on the image for a bigger version):

M.P.E.C. 2012-U39 assigns the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2012 T6: T 2012 Aug. 25.08; e= 1.0; Peri. = 196.47; q = 1.79 AU; Incl.= 34.28.

by Ernesto Guido, Alison Tripp, Giovanni Sostero & Nick Howes

New Comet: C/2011 A3 (GIBBS)

IAUC nr.9193, issued on 2011, Jan. 17, announced the discovery of a new comet (magnitude roughly 18) by A. R. Gibbs through the Catalina 0.68-m Schmidt telescope, on images obtained on 2011, Jan. 15.5. The new comet has been designated C/2011 A3 (GIBBS).

After posting on the Minor Planet Center's 'NEOCP' webpage, other CCD astrometrists have also commented on the object's cometary appearance. We performed some follow-up measurements of this object while it was still listed in the NEO-CP, on 2011 Jan. 16.4 and 17.4, remotely from the GRAS Observatory (near Mayhill, NM) through a 0.25-m, f/3.4 reflector + CCD and with the Tzec Maun Observatory 0.35-m f/3.8.

Our fourteen stacked 120-s unfiltered images taken with GRAS 0.25-m f/3.4 reflector show a sharp coma nearly 8" in diameter (red mag 17.5-17.6) with a faint tail about 15" long toward p.a. 280 deg. While 27 stacked 180-s exposures taken with a Tzec Maun Observatory 0.35-m f/3.8 reflector shows a coma diameter of about 10" with a central condensation and a faint tail about 12" long toward p.a. 280 deg.

Our confirming image (click for a bigger version):

MPEC 2011-B07 assign to the new comet C/2011 A3 the following very preliminary parabolic orbital elements: T = 2011 Oct. 4.469 TT, q = 1.09867 AU, Incl. = 22.805, e = 1.0

According to COCD webpage, this is the 17th comet discovery for Gibbs!!

by Ernesto Guido & Giovanni Sostero