C/2019 Y4 ATLAS - confirmation of nuclear change
ATel #13622; I. A. Steele, R. J. Smith, J. Marchant (Liverpool JMU)
on 6 Apr 2020; 18:38 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Comets
Credential Certification: Iain Steele (iainsteele@mac.com)
We have been carrying out a series of ongoing observations of C/2019 Y4 ATLAS with the Liverpool 2.0m Telescope, La Palma.
We compared our r' band images taken on 2020 April 01 and 2020 April 05 (20:30UT) prompted by the report of a possible breakup by Ye & Zhang (ATel #13620).
We confirm the appearance of a nuclear elongation reported by Ye & Zhang, with a total nuclear elongation of 3.5 arcserc at the time of our second epoch of observations. The distribution of nuclear material appears somewhat bimodal, with a suggested gap between a sharper "leading" peak and a following more extended section.
Photometry within a 5 arcsec diameter of the nuclear region shows a decline from r=14.2 on 2020 April 01 to r=14.8 on 2020 April 2020 calibrated with respect to nearby APASS standard stars.
Liverpool Telescope
