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 comet 285P/LINEAR (= 2003 U2 = 2013 K2)

Photometric data obtained by use of FOCAS-II software

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

OBJECT        DATE       TIME        +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-    +/-     N  FWHM  CAT

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

285P          02/10/2022 19:50:27  17.01  16.48  16.32  16.28                 3.1  17.5  B96

285P          02/10/2022 19:50:27*  0.06   0.14   0.21   0.21                   2   3.7  Gai

                                                                     AFRHO         LOG

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

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

285P          02/10/2022 19:50:27    1.66   2.00  16.61  16.68    3     23     7  1.354  B96

Discovery:

F. Shelly, Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reports the discovery of a comet with a diffuse coma and a very wide, fan-shaped tail in p.a. 85 deg on LINEAR images with a 18-th magnitude on October 19.09 2003. Following posting on the NEO Confirmation Page, other CCD observers have also commented on the cometary appearance on Oct. 21.1-21.2 UT .  Prediscovery images back to September 19 were also found. It was at perihelion in early December 2003 at 1.7 au and has a period of 9.6 years. [ IAUC 8229]

Recovery:

Hidetaka Sato recovered 2003 U2 with the remote iTelescope 0.51m astrograph at Mayhill Observatory on 2013 May 8.45. Perihelion is 0.18 days earlier than predicted. [MPEC 2013-K37, 2013 May 24]

Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF; Bellm et al. 2019, PASP, 131, a8002) report an apparant outburst by some 4 magnitudes between 2022 July 31.2 and August 3.3 [ CBET 5115]