We use essential cookies to make our site work. With your consent, we may also use non-essential cookies to
improve user experience and analyse website traffic.
Preferences
New Comet: P/2011 N1
July 11, 2011
IAUC nr.9219, issued on 2011, July 07, announces that an apparently asteroidal object (discovery magnitude 19.9) reported by Ignacio de la Cueva, Ibiza, Spain (from exposures taken by J. L. Ortiz, P. Santos-Sanz, N. Morales, and himself with a 0.40-m f/3.7 reflector at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile) was found to show cometary appearance after initial posting on the Minor Planet Center NEOCP webpage. The new comet has been designated P/2011 N1
We performed some follow-up measurements of this object while it was still listed in the NEOCP. Stacking of 20 R-filtered exposures, 30-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Faulkes Telescope South on 2011, July 7.7, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, shows that this object is a comet: elliptical coma measuring about 7" x 4", elongated toward west, with a sharp central condensation. Tail nearly 10" long toward PA 270
M.P.E.C. 2011-N29 assignes the following preliminary orbital elements to comet P/2011 N1: T 2012 May 30.02; e= 0.54; Peri. =330.23; q = 2.87 AU; Incl.=35.69
