New Comet: C/2010 J1 (BOATTINI)

IAU circular No. 9143, issued on 2010, May 07, announces the discovery by A. Boattini of a new comet on May 06, 2010, with the 0.68-m Schmidt telescope in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. After posting on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, many observers have commented on the cometary appearance of this 16 magnitude object, designated C/2010 J1 (BOATTINI).

We have been able to confirm this object remotely, through the GRAS network, using a scope located in Mayhill (NM): on 2010, May 6.4, co-adding of 10 unfiltered exposures, 60-seconds each obtained by means of a 0.25-m, f/3.4 reflector + CCD, show a diffuse coma nearly 15-arcsec in diameter, plus a broad, fan-shaped tail about 1-arcmin long toward south-east.

Our confirming image:

Our follow-up image taken on May 07, 2010:

 

The first and preliminary parabolic orbit for comet C/2010 J1 (BOATTINI) indicates perihelion Jan. 31, 2010, at about 1.6 AU.

This is the 90th comet for the Catalina Sky Survey and the 14nd for Boattini.

by Ernesto Guido & Giovanni Sostero

New Comet: C/2010 G1 (BOATTINI)

IAU circular No. 9133, issued on 2010, April 06, announces the discovery by A. Boattini of a new comet on Apr. 05, 2010, with the 0.68-m Schmidt telescope in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey. After posting on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, many observers have commented on the cometary appearance of this 14 magnitude object, designated C/2010 G1 (BOATTINI).

The object described by the discoverer as diffuse with a strong, condensed coma about 40" in size, and a fainter coma out to a diameter about 2' that fades into the background; the coma is slightly elongated in p.a. 50-55 deg.

Discovery image (4x20seconds exposures):

(Credit: A. Boattini - CSS Survey)

The first and preliminary parabolic orbit for comet C/2010 G1 (BOATTINI) indicates perihelion on Apr. 06, 2010, at about 1.20 AU.

This is the 87th comet for the Catalina Sky Survey and the 13th for Andrea Boattini.

by Ernesto Guido

Comet C/2009 P2 (BOATTINI)

IAU Circular nr.9063, issued on 2009, Aug. 18, announces the discovery of a new comet by Andrea Boattini, named C/2009 P2 (BOATTINI). It was found in the within Pegasus, with the 0.68-m schmidt of the "Catalina Sky Survey" on 2008, Aug 15.4. Afterwards this object has been posted on the NEO-CP with the ID code of "9P1083D", in search of follow-up observations. Then, several astrometrists provided positive feedbacks about its cometary nature.

We first picked up this object on 2009, Aug. 17.4 remotely, from the Mayhill (NM) station of the Global Rent a Scope network. Unfortunately, of the 10 unfiltered exposures, 120-sec each we obtained through a 0.25-m, f/3.4 reflector + CCD, only a few were usable, because the object was merging with a field star. Under those circumstances, we could only obtain an astrometric position, with no clues about its nature because in our stacking we had not enough signal/noise to discriminate if it was an asteroid or a little comet.

We were more lucky on Aug. 18.3, when we were able to secure 20 unfiltered exposures, 120-sec each, by means of the same instrumentation. After careful image processing, it was clear to us that the object was not showing a stellar aspect: comparison of its FWHM profile with that of nearby field stars, was consistently showing higher values; the reason of this difference was the presence of a tiny coma, about 8 arcsec in diameter, with a slight elongation toward south-west.

Our image is available here:

Preliminary orbital elements were published on M.P.E.C. 2009-Q1

http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/mpec/K09/K09Q14.html

according to the data published so far by the Minor Planet Center, this object is moving along a parabolic (e=1), retrograde (i= 164 deg) orbit, with a perihelion at about 6 AU, that will be reached in July 2010. At about that time, it will reach a maximum magnitude of m1 about 17.4.

by E. Guido, G. Sostero, P. Camilleri, E. Prosperi