Copyright © All rights reserved. Made By Erik Bryssinck  Terms of use  |  Privacy policy

Comet 142P/GE-WANG

Photometric data obtained by use of FOCAS-II software

                                   10x10  20x20  30x30  40x40  50x50  60x60   SNR   SB   COD

COMET         UTC                    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-     N  FWHM  CAT

------------  -------------------  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  ----  ----  ---

                                                                     AFRHO         LOG

COMET         UTC                   DELTA    r    BOX "   MAG   RSR    CM    +/-  AFRHO  OBS

------------  -------------------   -----  -----  -----  -----  ---  -----  ----  -----  ---

Comet 142P/GE-WANG (astro Van Buitenen)

Discovery :

Ge Yong-Liang and Wang Qi (Xinglong Station of the Beijing Observatory, China) were conducting a survey for near-Earth asteroids with a 0.60-m Schmidt telescope. While stereoscopically examining plates, they compared a 15-minute exposure obtained on 1988 November 4.60 and an 8-minute exposure obtained on November 4.64, and found "a slowly moving, faint and fuzzy image with an estimated magnitude 16." They preliminarily accepted it as a faint comet.

     As soon as the report reached the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams, notices were dispatched to other observatories for confirmation. Almost immediately, C. S. and E. M. Shoemaker (Palomar Observatory, California, USA) reported prediscovery images on plates exposed with the 0.46-m Schmidt telescope on October 11.48, October 11.52, and November 4.37. They estimated the magnitude as 16.5 in October and 16 in November, while the comet was always diffuse, with a strong condensation, but no tail.

     At the end of November, T. Kojima (YGCO Chiyoda Station, Japan) found prediscovery images on plates exposed on November 3.54 and November 3.58. He estimated the magnitude as 17.

(Bron: Cometography G. Kronk)