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.
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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