Comet hunter Tsutomu Seki's web-page[Reports from Geisei Observatory <October 17, 2005>]

Reports from Geisei Observatory <October 17, 2005>

2003 UB313, P/2005 S2 (Skiff), P/2005 R1 (NEAT), and P/2005 R2 (Van Ness)

The following are the results of observations of faint comets:
The first 5 observations are those of 2003 UB313, which was thought to be the possible 10th planet. It is not so faint, but its magnitude measurements show some variation. More Kuiper Belt objects like this one will be discovered in the future.
The other new comets reported here are all faint.
I would like to acknowledge Mr. Hirohisa Sato's significant contribution in measuring the positions of the objects in this report.

     K03UV3B   2005 08 15.77049 01 39 12.11 -05 22 27.3          18.9        372
     K03UV3B   2005 08 16.75104 01 39 11.19 -05 22 40.1          18.9        372
     K03UV3B   2005 09 12.70903 01 38 33.38 -05 28 34.5          18.5        372
     K03UV3B   2005 09 26.62049 01 38 06.48 -05 31 42.2          18.5        372
     K03UV3B   2005 10 01.67431 01 37 55.93 -05 32 46.6          18.7        372

    PK05S020   2005 10 01.61528 00 54 33.76 +03 42 34.8          19.0 T      372
    PK05S020   2005 10 01.64271 00 54 33.18 +03 42 31.5          19.1 T      372

    PK05R010   2005 09 07.66042 00 37 39.26 +32 14 36.8          17.8 T      372
    PK05R010   2005 09 26.60208 00 35 11.58 +32 41 24.3          18.0 T      372

    CK05R040   2005 10 01.69722 05 39 49.20 +20 03 04.9          18.8 T      372

    PK05R020   2005 10 12.68455 02 08 22.07 +29 28 32.9          13.4 T      372

P/2005 R2 (Van Ness)
A tail is visible at pa 225°

October 13, 2005
Double exposure: 12-minute exposure from 1:14 and 1:26
60cm f/3.5 reflector
Acros 100 film