[Baa-ebulletin 00529] Comet 2010 V1

[Rick]

Comet 2010 V1 (c) 2010 British Astronomical Association -- http://www.britastro.org/

A comet has been discovered visually by Japanese amateur observers, Kaoru Ikeya (Mori-machi, Shuchi-gun, Shizuoka-ken; 25-cm reflector at 39x; diffuse with some condensation; coma diameter 1' on November 2.831 UT and 2' on November 3.812) and by Shigeki Murakami (Toukamachi, Niigata-ken; 46-cm reflector at 78x; coma diameter 4' with a 2' tail in p.a. 90 deg on November 3.801; moving eastward at approximately 2'/hr). [IAUC 9175].

The comet was magnitude 8.5 at discovery by Ikeya, and 8 the following day. It seems to be brightening rapidly, as visual observations by Juan Jose Gonzalez on November 4.2 put it as bright as 7.6 in 10x50B. This may indicate that it is approaching perihelion, or alternatively undergoing an outburst.

An ephemeris is not yet available, but one can be generated at the NEOCP at http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/iau/NEO/ToConfirmRA.html  if you select ObjX1. It is a morning object with an elongation of 33 degrees and moving south. It is in Virgo a few degrees from Saturn.

Further information will be distributed when the orbit is known.

Jonathan Shanklin

Director Comet Section, British Astronomical Association
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds