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MPEC 2011-Y23 : COMET C/2011 W3 (LOVEJOY)

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M.P.E.C. 2011-Y23                                Issued 2011 Dec. 25, 15:35 UT

     The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual
         minor planets and routine data on comets.  They are published
   on behalf of Commission 20 of the International Astronomical Union by the
          Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,
                          Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.

             Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network

                              MPC@CFA.HARVARD.EDU
            URL http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/    ISSN 1523-6714

                           COMET C/2011 W3 (LOVEJOY)

Observations:
    CK11W030 QC2011 12 23.75224 16 59 17.43 -39 26 10.3                rEY023E12
    CK11W030 QC2011 12 24.74267 16 58 13.06 -41 45 07.0                rEY023E12
    CK11W030 QC2011 12 24.74785 16 58 14.07 -41 45 36.8                rEY023E12

Observer details:
E12 Siding Spring Survey.  Observer R. H. McNaught.  0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt
    + CCD.

Orbital elements:
    C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)
Epoch 2011 Dec. 25.0 TT = JDT 2455920.5
T 2011 Dec. 16.01211 TT                                 MPC
q   0.0055561            (2000.0)            P               Q
z  +0.0129748      Peri.   53.62275     +0.18408854     -0.90052085
 +/-0.0000477      Node   326.53456     -0.96007510     -0.07885569
e   0.9999279      Incl.  134.40945     +0.21063526     +0.42760259
From 96 observations 2011 Nov. 27-Dec. 24, mean residual 0".9.

Ephemeris:
    C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy)
Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r     Elong.  Phase   m1    m2
2011 11 25    12 01 21.7 -49 42 24   0.7577  0.8314    55.0    76.7  13.1  16.7
...
2011 12 10    16 39 12.4 -40 31 32   0.7591  0.3583    18.5   119.2   9.4  17.0
...
2011 12 18    17 12 08.3 -27 17 20   0.8673  0.1682     7.5   130.1   6.4  16.5
...
2011 12 24    16 58 59.6 -40 00 23   0.6820  0.4337    21.9   122.1  10.0  17.4
2011 12 25    16 57 58.9 -42 21 48   0.6590  0.4697    24.3   120.3  10.3  17.3
2011 12 26    16 57 11.0 -44 49 07   0.6375  0.5043    26.8   118.5  10.5  17.3
...
2012 01 01    16 57 00.2 -61 51 55   0.5399  0.6920    42.8   105.3  11.6  16.8
...
2012 01 09    21 32 04.6 -88 29 18   0.5009  0.9084    66.5    83.1  12.6  16.2
...
2012 01 24    04 37 52.5 -48 38 38   0.6914  1.2573    95.6    51.2  14.7  16.6

     C/2011 W3 remains a difficult target for astrometry, as evidenced by
the poor consistency of the latest observations.  McNaught writes: "Star fit
RMS 0.3", but measures are much less reliable than that.  The positions are of
the tip of the "spine" which lies pretty much on the front edge of the parabolic
hood. It is rather less well defined than on Dec 23.  For this reason I cannot
be sure just how closely I am measuring the same point as on Dec 23."

Gareth V. Williams           (C) Copyright 2011 MPC           M.P.E.C. 2011-Y23

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