Cbet nr. 3019, issued on 2012, February 12, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 15.3) by Manfred Bruenjes on 30-s CCD exposures taken on two nights with a 0.36-m f/2.0 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector on February 11.1 & 12.08. The new comet has been designated C/2012 C2 (BRUENJES).

We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Co-adding of 5 unfiltered exposures, 30 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2012 Feb 12.8 through a 0.15-m f/7.3 refractor + CCD (Nerpio MPC Code - I89) confirms that this object is a comet: diffuse coma 1 arcminute and 30 arcseconds in diameter, with a sharp central condensation

Our confirmation image:


M.P.E.C. 2012-C44 assignes the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2012 C2: T 2012 Mar. 12.84; e= 1.00; Peri. = 62.95; q = 0.80 AU; Incl.= 162.71

Congrats to Fred Bruenjes for this discovery!