New Comet C/2021 Q4 (Fuls)
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).
Our confirmation image (click on the images for a bigger version; made with TYCHO software by D. Parrott)
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).
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.
by Ernesto Guido