Electronic Telegram No. 3262
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau@eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat@iau.org)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


COMET P/2012 TK_8 (TENAGRA)
     An apparently asteroidal object (discovery observations tabulated below)
reported by Michael Schwartz (Nogales, AZ, U.S.A.), from CCD images taken with
a 0.41-m f/3.75 astrograph by himself and P. R. Holvorcem, has been found to
show cometary appearance elsewhere after it was announced with minor-planet
designation 2012 TK_8 by the Minor Planet Center.  Richard Wainscoat and
Marco Micheli, University of Hawaii, report that four w-band 45-s exposures
obtained with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope at Haleakala on Oct. 9 UT show
the object to be slightly diffuse compared to adjacent stars, with a very
faint tail extending to the southwest.  Micheli adds that three 120-s
unfiltered images obtained on Oct. 17 by Garrett Elliott with the University
of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope show that 2012 TK_8 is clearly cometary in
appearance, displaying an extended point-spread function compared with nearby
stars and a 5" tail toward p.a. about 225 deg.

     2012 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
     Oct.  6.32012    0 46 27.67   +14 47 39.8   19.7   Schwartz
           6.33403    0 46 27.09   +14 47 36.5   19.6     "
           6.34791    0 46 26.52   +14 47 33.7   19.4     "

The available astrometry, the following preliminary elliptical orbital
elements by Gareth V. Williams, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2012-U41.

     T = 2013 May   9.7986 TT         Peri. = 128.0876
     e = 0.261374                     Node  = 289.7266  2000.0
     q = 3.089703 AU                  Incl. =   6.2922
       a =  4.183044 AU    n = 0.1152034    P =   8.56 years


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 October 18                  (CBET 3262)              Daniel W. E. Green