P/2002 T5 (LINEAR)

LINEAR discovered an apparently asteroidal object of magnitude 18.4 on October 5th 2002. On October 18th it was recognised as a cometary object and it was shown to be of relatively short period. The first estimate of its period was 18.5 years.

According to the definitive orbital solution, perihelion will be reached on June 27th 2003 at 3.93AU. The period is 18.4 years and the orbital excentricity is relatively low (e=0.44).

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The light curve

The light curve is only poorly covered at present. It's magnitude is dominated by the changing geocentric distance. Maximum was expected in December 2002 with a local minimum around perihelion, after which it will reach maximum around magnitude 17 at the end of 2003.

Observations by:

• Ramón Naves & Montse Campàs - MPC 213
• Rolando Ligustri - MPC 235
• Josep Lluis Salto - MPC A02
• Juan de la Cruz - MPC J87

Coma profile: January 25^th 2003

Profile of the coma of P/2002 T5 (LINEAR).

Obtained by CCD photometry with apertures of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 60 arcseconds.

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Ramón Naves & Montse Campàs
MPC 213, OBSERVATORIO MONTCABRER CABRILS (SPAIN)

Última actualización 18/02/2003
Por M.R.Kidger