IAU A79

One new asteroid has been discovered in the course of the A79 observations on 13/11/2009.  The body was designed by MPC as 2009 YH42. Based on only 4 days observations it is early to be calculated a reasonable orbit. According to MPC calculations the asteroid has a period of only 2.7 years and close approaches with Mars. We calculated a different orbit solution with period of about 5 years, i.e. the asteroid presumably is a member of the outer zone of the Main Belt. Meanwhile,the orbit of 2009 UN18 was extended to 53 days arc.

Three of our newly discovered in 2009 asteroids received permanent numbers by Minor Planet Centre. 2009 OD2, 2009 QJ5 and 2009 QT33 received numbers 225232, 225238 and 225249, respectively. We consider how to name these asteroids and are open for any helpful suggestions.
More information you can find on Discovery Circumstances page published by MPC and in the results section.

Cometary features of the NEOCP object BQ95053 was detected using a stack of 15 unfiltered exposures, 40 seconds each, obtained on 2009, October 29.06 UT. Even after this short expose time the object reveals the presence of well visible coma nearly 10 arcsec in diameter and tail around 30 arcsec. Unfortunately, we observed the new comet just before the clouds totally to cover the sky and were not able to detect more details. The preliminary orbit for the comet P/2009 U6 (LINEAR) shows perihelion already on Aug. 11, 2009, at about 1.5 AU. The period is about 7.3 years. The comet was very close to the 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann and 81P/Wild. A prediscovery images and further details you can find here or here. (IAUC 9090, subscription required, MPEC 2009-U126)

Two new MB asteroids have been discovered in the course of A79 observations on 21/10/2009.  The bodies were designed by MPC as 2009 UL18 and 2009 UN18. According to current orbital elements 2009 UL18 is a member of the Central zone of the Main Belt when 2009 UN18 of the Inner zone. New observations of the recently discovered asteroid 2009 TY were performed too and the orbital elements were improved.  Many other asteroids observed in only two nights have been confirmed during the observations and based on these data MPC calculated their orbital elements.
We continued to observe remotely our newly discovered asteroids in August and extended the orbits arc to more than two months for the bodies, which were not still linked with older observations. This will allow us to identify these asteroids on the NEAT archive images soon.

One new Main Belt Asteroid has been discovered during the A79 observations. The body was designed by MPC as 2009 TY and linked to some earlier observations. According to the current orbital elements (25 days arc), the asteroid is a member of the inner zone of the MB, has a period of 3.21 years and brightness of approximately 18.9R magnitude. More details are available in the results section.

During the extension of the orbits arc of our recently discovered asteroids by 0.61m telescope at H11 observatory we detected 7 MBA and were able to confirm two of them in two different nights. MPC designed them as 2009 SQ169 and 2009 RZ58. The 2009 RZ58 observations covered 14 days period and MPC linked the body with older observations, thus the asteroid became observed totally in 6 opposition!

According to the recently published statistics by MPC, IAU A79 continues to be leader in the area of astrometry in Bulgaria. We observed 229 numbered and 102 unnumbered asteroids as well as 24 comets.

The orbital elements of the most of our newly 16 asteroids, discovered in July and August, were significantly improved. This was achieved mainly by our additional observations performed remotely by 0.61cm RC telescope at H11 observatory (New Mexico, USA). The orbital arc for the most the bodies were extended to about 30-40 days and in the case of 2009 OD2 and 2009 OW2 (U=5 now) to more than 60 days. We also found some of the asteroids on NEAT archive images and based on other old observations, which was linked by MPC, 2009 QJ5 is now observed in 6 oppositions when 2009 QT33 and 2009 QU33 in 4 oppositions. All of these asteroids were observed more than one night in each apparition and according to IAU rules 2009 QJ5 should be numbered soon.

More information about the orbital elements you can find in the results section.

Seven new MB asteroids have been discovered in the course of the A79 observations. The bodies were designed by MPC as 2009 QK32, 2009 QU34, 2009 QL34, 2009 QV33, 2009 QU33, 2009 QS33 and 2009 QT33. According to the current orbital elements three of them are members of the inner zone of the belt, two of the central and two are in the outer zone. The first asteroid, 2009 QK32, was identified on 25/08/2009 and conformed in the next night, when other five bodies on 26/08/2009. 2009 QU34 was discovered on 28/09/2009 during the conformation of 2009 QL34 and has the highest brightness (currently 19.4V). More information about the orbital elements you can find in the results section.
Meanwhile, we continue to observe remotely our previously discovered in July asteroids by 0.61m telescope at Light bucked observatory (MPC H11 code).

Cometary features of the NEOCP object 9Q18301 was detected using a stack of 5 unfiltered exposures, 60 seconds each, obtained on 2009, August 29.1 UT. Even after this short expose time and the low brightness of the body, about 18.5R magnitude, the object reveals the presence of well visible and very diffuse coma nearly 10-12 arcsec in diameter. Unfortunately, we observed the new comet just before the sunrise and were not able to detect more details. The first and preliminary orbit for comet P/2009 Q1 (Hill), which includes prediscovery positions by Spacewacth of Aug. 16, indicates perihelion already on July 19, 2009, at about 2.8 AU. This is the 75th comet discovery for Catalina and the 16th for Hill. (IAUC 9067, subscription required, MPEC 2009-Q67)