Abstract:
The 1.2-m Schmidt telescope at IIalcakala found a comet on November 6, 2002 during the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT)and it was reported by S.II.Pravdo. At the time of discovery its magnitude was around 17.3. Several recorded positions of the comet enabled B. G. Marsden to establish the perihelion date as February 18.30, the perihelion distance as 0.099 AC and the orbital period as about 37 years for the comet. Visual magnitude estimates reported during December by several observers were inconsistent. The total visual magnitude was between 8.0 and 8.5 around December 29. The comet brightened in January. The magnitudes ranging from 6.8 to 7.5 and coma diameter estimates ranging from 5 to 12 aremin around January 14 were reported. CCD images on January 17 revealed an apparent tail disconnection event. The comet's rate of brightening slowed around February 3, as observers were reporting brightness estimates below the predicted values.
