THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 192 1988 Aug 21 09.28UT. Telecom Gold 72:MAG60138 Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16, Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4PP, England. Telephone:(0256)471074.Int:+44256471074 Telex:265871(MONREF G) Quote"72:MAG60138 ATT G.HURST"in FIRST line. ------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS S.J.O'Meara, S&T, reports independent discoveries of a new dark feature on Mars by D.Parker (Coral Gables,FL) and others. The feature, which is not present on Mars maps dating back to Schiaparelli's of 1879, appears to be a long lane swept clear of dust. It begins as a westward extension of Acampsis, connects to Gallinaria Silva and crosses Memnonia to Titanum Sinus. O'Meara, observing with the Mount Wilson 1.5-m reflector, traced the feature as far as Cerberus III. IAUC 4645 There has been no feedback regarding the announcement of a possible split in the Southern Polar Cap made on E-189. Comments and observations on both the above features would be welcomed. COMET MACHHOLZ (1988j) H.Mikuz, Yugoslavia, telexes that he has photographed the comet: Aug 10 02.31UT coma 2', DC5. Mag approx 9. 15 02.35UT coma 1.5', DC5. (0.2-m f/2 Baker-Schmidt camera). Improved elements based on 26 observations Aug 7-17: T =1988 Sept 17.589 ET Peri= 348.971 ) Node= 166.999 ) 1950.0 Incl= 40.175 ) q = 0.16517 AU IAUC 4643 Ephemeris by Hurst: 1988 ET RA (1950) DEC Earth Sun Elong m1 Aug 21 06h29.1m -00 42' 0.900 0.869 054.1 7.1 23 06 48.0 -00 54 0.883 0.822 051.3 6.8 25 07 07.7 -01 06 0.870 0.773 048.2 6.5 27 07 28.1 -01 16 0.864 0.723 045.0 6.2 29 07 49.1 -01 24 0.863 0.673 041.6 5.9 31 08 10.5 -01 29 0.868 0.620 038.1 5.6 Sept 2 08 32.0 -01 31 0.879 0.567 034.5 5.2 4 08 53.6 -01 29 0.897 0.511 030.8 4.8 6 09 15.1 -01 21 0.922 0.455 027.2 4.4 8 09 36.5 -01 08 0.953 0.396 023.5 3.8 10 09 58.0 -00 47 0.992 0.337 019.8 3.2 12 10 19.9 -00 17 1.036 0.277 015.9 2.5 14 10 42.8 +00 24 1.085 0.221 011.7 1.6 16 11 07.9 +01 19 1.134 0.178 007.0 0.8 18 11 35.3 +02 24 1.168 0.166 001.8 0.5 20 12 02.9 +03 21 1.179 0.193 003.9 1.2 22 12 28.7 +04 00 1.176 0.243 008.6 2.2 24 12 52.4 +04 21 1.169 0.301 012.9 3.1 OUTBURST 3C 446 An appeal has been received from Tenerife and La Palma astronomers requesting that TA observers monitor the outburst of this quasar in visual/photovisual. Location details appeared on E191 but an improved chart is needed and prints of the area to 1mm=20" would be helpful. Please send all negatives for reduction. Guy M Hurst