C/2008 T2 (Cardinal)

	C/2008 T2 (Cardinal)

	Orbit by Kazuo Kinoshita
	Discovery Robert D. Cardinal (Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada) discovered this comet using a 50-cm Baker-Nunn reflector on 2008 October 1.16 and October 1.23. Interestingly, the comet was not immediately noticed. Cardinal had taken several images in an area of the sky about ten degrees from Polaris, the north star. But it was a few days later, while examining the data at home, that something caught his eye. Follow-up images were obtained on October 6.44 and October 7.10. All of the images revealed a nuclear magnitude of 16.0. Observations at several observatories on October 8 indicated this was a comet, with a total magnitude of 14.5. Historical Highlights Using 20 positions from the period of 2008 October 1 to 8, B. G. Marsden calculated a parabolic orbit with a perihelion date of 2009 June 16.29. The orbit also indicated that when the comet was at perihelion it would be 1.22 AU from the sun. A revision by Marsden on October 20 revealed a perihelion date of June 12.85 and a perihelion distance of 1.20 AU. Although the initial predictions brought about the speculation that this comet would probably reach magnitude 8 and maybe even barely reach naked-eye visibility, later calculations and a better understanding of the comet's light curve indicate it probably will not be brighter than magnitude 10. The comet was closest to Earth on 2009 March 20 (1.73 AU).
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