IAU A79

Two new Main Belt Asteroids have been discovered during the A79 observations. According to the initial orbital elements (5 days arc), the bodies are members of the inner and central zone of the MB, respectively. 2009 QJ5 is a brilliant MBA and currently has a brightness of approximately 18.6R magnitude. More details are available in the results section. Two other asteroids have been found but latter linked to known asteroids.

A comet activity of the 9P1083D object was observed and reported to CBAT. According to the preliminary orbit the new comet C/2009 P2 (Boattini), which was discovered on Aug. 15, 2009 in the course of the Catalina Sky Survey, will reach perihelion on July 24, 2010, at about 6.1 AU.  This is the 74th comet discovery for Catalina and the 9th for Boattini. (IAUC 9063, subscription required, MPEC 2009-Q14).

We confirmed the comet nature of the NEOCP object 9O0DB7B. The new comet was designed as C/2009 O4 (Hill).  The preliminary orbit of the 16m comet indicates perihelion on Dec. 1, 2009, at about 2.9 AU (IAUC 9059, subscription required, MPEC 2009-O56). Another comet C/2009 O3 (Hill) has been confirmed via the NEOCP from A79 team on July 30 (MPEC 2009-O54). Here you can find an image of C/2009 O4 (Hill) captured on July 31.0 UT.

Three Main Belt Asteroids have been discovered from A79 team during the period 25-28/07/2009. More observations are needed to be obtained good orbital solutions. Together with the conformation of the objects listed on the NEO confirmation page we currently observe and our last findings. Follow the information listed on the result page and the further updates.

Four Main Belt Asteroids have been discovered during the period 16-21/07/2009.
According to the current orbital elements, two of the bodies, 2009 OD and 2009 OV, can be classified as outer members and one, 2009 OD2, can be involved in the central zone of the MB. Presumably, the 2009 OW2 belong to the Nysas family, outside of the zone 1 of the belt. Three other asteroids have been found, as for example the temporary designed 2009 OS6, but than linked to known bodies. 2009 OD has a diameter about 1.7km when the other asteroids 1.3km, 1.2km and 0.7km, respectively. We will continue the observation from our site and remotely from H11 (Light bucked observatory) to precise the orbits. More details are available in the results section.

The proposal of A79 team to call an asteroid they discovered Levski has been approved. The Committee on Small Body Nomenclature in the Solar System at the International Astronomical Union approved the proposal of Bulgarian astronomers, discoverers of the 204831 asteroid, to name the body after Bulgarian revolutionary Vasil Levski. Levski was selected by a nationwide poll as the greatest Bulgarian of all time. The asteroid was discovered on August 14 2007 at the Zvezdno Obshtestvo Observatory.
Vasil Levski was the nickname of Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (18 July 1837-18 February 1873), an ethnic Bulgarian revolutionary renowned as the national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed the Apostle of Freedom, Levski ideologised and strategised a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Founding the Internal Revolutionary Organisation, Levski sought to foment a nationwide uprising through a network of secret regional committees.

Our member K. Dankov discovered a new NEO asteroid on the H55 images obtained on 31/01/2009 (see MPC 2009-C09)! The object received designation 2009 BD81 and according to the current orbit it was classified as an Apollo asteroid. The asteroid will reach the maximum brightness of 18.1V on 18/02/2009 and was listed as a risk object (PHA) by NASA/JPL. More information you can find here. Congratulations to Kolyo!

The main belt asteroid discovered by A79 team during the summer of 2007 has been numbered, 2007 PQ28 = 204831. This is the first numbered asteroid found from Bulgaria since 1989!

A new MBA asteroid has been discovered during a short A79 search campaign: 2008 WN96. The body is a typical member of the inner group of the belt and has a period of 3.2 years. Currently the asteroid brightness is 19.9V magnitude. The observations were performed by K. Dankov, L. Vrigazov and F. Fratev.
We temporary opened our observatory, equipped with a new 35cm f/2.6 Orion Optics telescope, and plan to observe to the end of December 2008.

Update 2008/12/20: 2008 WN96 was detected on old NEAT images (SkyMorph archive) from 2001. Additional observations were added by MPC, thus the orbit was improved and the body became observed at 4 oppositions.

During A79 search for MBA, three new asteroids were discovered: 2007 PQ28, 2007 PN29 and 2007 QD2 (see results). Continue Reading →