IAU Minor Planet Center

<!DOCTYPE html> <head> <title>IAU Minor Planet Center</title>  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=0">   <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/global/jquery-ui-1.12.1.custom/jquery-ui.min.css"> <script src="/static/global/js/jquery-3.4.1.min.js"></script> <script src="/static/global/jquery-ui-1.12.1.custom/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>  <meta name="description" content="We are the official body that deals with astrometric observations and orbits of minor planets (asteroids) and comets."> <meta name="keywords" content="astrometry, observations, orbits, minor planets, asteroids, comets, near earth objects, potentially hazardous asteroids"> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/stylesheets/mpc.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/stylesheets/table-sorter.css"> <link media="all" rel="stylesheet" href="/css/all.css"> <link rel="icon" 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href="/"><span>NEW</span></a> <ul> <li><a href="/mpcops/new/developments/">Developments</a></li>  <li><a href="/mpcops/new/existing-upgrades/">Existing Upgrades</a></li> <li><a href="/mpcops/new/newsletters/">Newsletters</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="/iau/MPCStatus.html"><span style="color:GoldenRod">STATUS</a></li> <li><a href="/mpcops/documentation/"><span>DOCUMENTATION</span></a></li> <li><a href="/"><span>EXTERNAL</span></a> <ul id="external"> <li><a href="https://mpcmug.astro.umd.edu/" target="_blank">MPC User Group (MUG)</a></li> <li><a href="http://iawn.net/" target="_blank">IAWN</a></li> <li><a href="https://sbnmpc.astro.umd.edu/" target="_blank">SBN Annex</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/" target="_blank">WGSBN</a></li> <li><a href='http://alcdef.org'>Light Curve Database</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </nav> </header> <script type="text/javascript"> document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () { const listItems = document.querySelectorAll('#nav li '); function getDirectTextContent(element) { let directTextContent = ''; element.childNodes.forEach(node => { if (node.textContent.trim().includes('OBSERVERS') || node.textContent.trim().includes('DATA') || node.textContent.trim().includes('NEW') || node.textContent.trim().includes('STATUS') || node.textContent.trim().includes('DOCUMENTATION') || node.textContent.trim().includes('EXTERNAL')){ directTextContent += node.textContent.trim(); } }); return directTextContent; } listItems.forEach(function (li) { const directText = getDirectTextContent(li); const textLength = directText.length; // Log the length of each item to the console //console.log(`Text: "${li.textContent.trim()}", Length: ${textLength}`); // Apply class based on length if (textLength <= 5) { li.classList.add('short-word'); } else if (textLength <= 10) { li.classList.add('medium-word'); } else { li.classList.add('long-word'); } }); }); </script>  <div id="main">   <div class="django"> <h1> Cometary Activity Observations </h1> <p> <p> The Minor Planet Center encourages the submission of reports of suspected cometary activity for NEOCP/PCCP <br> objects and for non-NEOCP objects designated as minor planets (including objects with A/ designations). </p> <p> A cometary submission can also be made programatically: An example script using Python can be found <a href="/static/submissions/media/cometary_api_example.py" target="_blank">here</a>. </p> <p> Please read the following before reporting your information. <ul> <li> <strong> Please be aware that the data collected by this form will be used to automatically generate cometary <br> reports for inclusion in Minor Planet Electronic Circulars (MPECs). Therefore, please be careful as the <br> data will be reproduced exactly as submitted. </strong> </li> <li> All such reports of cometary activity should be made using this form. </li> <li> Any reports of activity for <i> known </i> comets made to this form will be ignored. </li> <li> Only reports of activity made using the form will be considered for inclusion in any subsequent MPEC <br> announcing cometary status. </li> <li> Any astrometry associated with the objects for which activity is being reported should be submitted to the <br> MPC through the <a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/info/TechInfo.html" target="_blank">normal channels</a> and labelled as 'New Comet'. <ul> <li> This will provide the MPC with the RA and Dec. coordinates of the objects at the time of the <br> reported activity. </li> <li> This also allows for the standard submission of lists of observer- and measurer-names. </li> </ul> </li> <li> Please only report one observation per submission. For example, follow up observations should be <br> entered separately. </li> <li> Fields marked with an asterisk* are required. </li> </ul> </p> <h3>Formatting Information</h3> <p> <ul> <li> The format of the person reporting cometary activity should match the format used in observation submission.<br> This is usually in the form of initials and last name e.g. K. Smith or J. R. R. Tolkien. </li> <li> Hyphenated first names should be abbreviated with the hyphen: e.g., 'Jean-Francois Hulot' would be <br> 'J.-F. Hulot'. </li> <li> Names that contain non-standard characters (e.g., accents or cedillas) may be specified using standard TeX <br> notation. </li> </ul> </p> </p> <div> <form class="cometary_submit" action="." method="post"> <input type="hidden" name="csrfmiddlewaretoken" value="2T6L0RAi9JZ59kLMyTEKL8f80yV7jQBn3U4pUb7QaJnljAERD0V02lEGOrQQ0ng4"> <table> <tr id="rowid_desig"> <th><label for="id_desig">Object Designation*:</label></th> <td><input type="text" name="desig" maxlength="13" required id="id_desig"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_observer"> <th><label for="id_observer">Properly Formatted Name of Person Reporting Cometary Activity*:</label></th> <td><input type="text" name="observer" required id="id_observer"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_email"> <th><label for="id_email">Email*:</label></th> <td><input type="email" name="email" required id="id_email"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_obsdate"> <th><label for="id_obsdate">UT Date of Observation* (i.e. 2019-04-10):</label></th> <td><input type="text" name="obsdate" required id="id_obsdate"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_obstime"> <th><label for="id_obstime">UT Time of Observation (i.e. 12:23:43):</label></th> <td><input type="text" name="obstime" id="id_obstime"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_obscode"> <th><label for="id_obscode">Observatory code*:</label></th> <td><input type="text" name="obscode" maxlength="4" required id="id_obscode"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_aperture"> <th><label for="id_aperture">Aperture Diameter* (m):</label></th> <td><input type="number" name="aperture" min="0.1" max="40" step="any" required id="id_aperture"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_is_comet_0"> <th><label for="id_is_comet_0">Is it Cometary?*:</label></th> <td><ul id="id_is_comet"> <li><label for="id_is_comet_0"><input type="radio" name="is_comet" value="T" required id="id_is_comet_0"> Definitely Cometary</label> </li> <li><label for="id_is_comet_1"><input type="radio" name="is_comet" value="P" required id="id_is_comet_1"> Possibly Cometary</label> </li> <li><label for="id_is_comet_2"><input type="radio" name="is_comet" value="F" required id="id_is_comet_2"> Not Cometary</label> </li> </ul></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_coma_appearance"> <th><label for="id_coma_appearance">Coma Appearance*:</label></th> <td><select name="coma_appearance" id="id_coma_appearance"> <option value="" selected></option> <option value="no coma">No Coma</option> <option value="very condensed">Very Condensed</option> <option value="condensed">Condensed</option> <option value="diffuse">Diffuse</option> <option value="very diffuse">Very Diffuse</option> </select></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_coma_diam"> <th><label for="id_coma_diam">Coma Diameter* (not FWHM):</label></th> <td><input type="number" name="coma_diam" min="0" max="10000" step="any" id="id_coma_diam"> <select name="coma_diam_units" id="id_coma_diam_units"> <option value="arc_sec">arc seconds</option> <option value="arc_min">arc minutes</option> <option value="arc_deg">degrees</option> </select> </td> </tr> </tr> <tr id="rowid_tail_appearance"> <th><label for="id_tail_appearance">Tail Appearance*:</label></th> <td><select name="tail_appearance" id="id_tail_appearance"> <option value="" selected></option> <option value="no tail">No Tail</option> <option value="straight">Straight</option> <option value="broad">Broad</option> <option value="curved">Curved</option> </select></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_tail_length"> <th><label for="id_tail_length">Tail Length*:</label></th> <td><input type="number" name="tail_length" min="0" max="10000" step="any" id="id_tail_length"> <select name="tail_length_units" id="id_tail_length_units"> <option value="arc_sec">arc seconds</option> <option value="arc_min">arc minutes</option> <option value="arc_deg">degrees</option> </select> </td> </tr> </tr> <tr id="rowid_tail_pa"> <th><label for="id_tail_pa">Tail Position Angle (lower bound of broad tail)* ( 掳 ):</label></th> <td><input type="number" name="tail_pa" min="0" max="360" step="any" id="id_tail_pa"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_tail_pa2"> <th><label for="id_tail_pa2">(upper bound of broad tail) ( 掳 ):</label></th> <td><input type="number" name="tail_pa2" min="0" max="360" step="any" id="id_tail_pa2"></td> </tr> <tr id="rowid_additional_comments"> <th><label for="id_additional_comments">Additional comments:</label></th> <td><textarea name="additional_comments" cols="40" rows="8" maxlength="500" id="id_additional_comments"> </textarea> <div id="text_count"></div></td> </tr> </table> <input id="submit" type="submit" value="Submit"> </form> </div>  </div>  </div> </div> </div>  <footer id="footer"> <div class="holder"> <nav class="nav"> <ul> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/about">About</a></li>  <li><a href="https://mpc-service.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portals">Helpdesk</a></li>  </ul> </nav> <a href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu"> <img src="/images/CfA_Logo_Vertical_CMYK.png" width="110" height="47"></a> <p> <p> <p> <div class="copy">The Minor Planet Center is hosted by 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