THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 206 1988 Oct 06  20.27UT.
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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COMET 1988m (SMM 4)
O.C.St.Cyr, Solar Maximum Mission, reports that D.Kobe and C.Waugh
have discovered a mag -3 comet on 1988 Aug 21 with the white-light
corongraph/polarimeter aboard the Solar Maximum Mission. The object
is presumably a sungrazer and was not seen after perhelion. Marsden
suggests the orbit is similar to Comet 1843I:
T=1988 Aug 21.82ET, Peri=82.5; Node=3.0; Incl=144.4, q=0.0058AU.
                                                 IAUC 4660
3C 446
Brian Manning (Stakenbridge) reports that on a photo taken on
1988 Sept 30.84UT the quasar appears at mag 16.0 and NON-STELLAR
with estimated diameter 5-6" compared with star images of 3".
There is no evidence of this on a copy of the Palomar Sky Survey
field. Details of position appeared on E191. Further photography is
required.

HT CAS and IP PEG
A request has been received via STARLINK from professional
astronomers in La Palma and Tenerife for daily monitoring of:
HT Cas RA 01h07m00s DEC +59 48.1'(1950) 12.60-19.32V P=70d?
IP Peg    23 20 39      +18 08.7        12.0-18.6B
HT Cas was last seen bright on 1987 Feb 10 at mag 13.2 but great
care is needed as there is a mag 13 companion and the TA chart
should be used. The GCVS period is in error.
IP Peg was seen at mag 14.8 on Aug 21 but last recorded bright on
1987 Nov 19 at mag 12.0.
If either star is seen in outburst please telephone the Editor
immediately. This is part of a new cooperative programme involving
cataclysmic variables full details of which will be announced
later.
a photo taken on
1988 Sept 30.84UT the quasar appears at mag 16.0 and NON-STELLAR
with estimated 
-------------- Sun Oct  9 12:56:29 1988 ---------------
MAIL MAG60138 AR SU SEPT NOVA PATROL
Guy,

Below are my nova patrol results for September. As you can see I have 
switched from Kodak Tri-X film to Kodak T-Max 400 (TMY). This film 
certainly has a finer grain structure but appears to be rather more 
sensitive to light pollution than the older film. As a result of this I 
have ordered a Lumicon deep sky filter from The States which should arrive 
in a few weeks. Martin is trying to convince me that it will be impounded 
at Heathrow!

A further possible disaster is that near to the weekend of the anniversary 
of the great Nova Vul87 fiasco I shall be out of the country and unable to 
perform nova patrols for a few days. Expect a nova to be discovered on the 
night of 9th November.

Regards Nick.
 at mag 12.0.
If either star is seen in outburst please teleph
     To:  DAVID_MCADAM   (MAG11851)
     Cc:  STORM.DUNLOP   (MAG100665)
     Cc:  THE_ASTRONOMER1   (MAG60138)
     Cc:  JAMES.N.D   (MAG90713)
   From:  SUTHERLAND.P  (MAG31707) Delivered:  Sun  9-Oct-88  14:01 BST Sys 10072  (36)
Subject:  Yale
Mail Id:  IPM-10072-881009-126191028

Thank you for your interest in the star
catalogue. Following an E-mail message
from Storm Dunlop I have spoken to David
Briggs, who has apparently been working
hard to improve the Yale Catalogue, by
adding extra stars and by condensing a
lot of the information it contains. (I
believe the Yale quotes positions for two
epochs, for example). The result should
be far more manageable and fit on many
fewer disks. David, who has an
Archimedes, plans to make his version
available in ASCII text form, so that it
could be used on any computer. However,
he says he will also be adding programs
for the popular machines so that the
information can be acccessed like a
database. I gather he is also working on
a graphics extension for certain
computers so that maps can be drawn up
from the database for any part of the
sky. David (tel: 0705 455926) will make
his catalogue commercially available when
it is finally completed, but it sounds as
if it might be better to wait for this
than the more unwieldy version in the
Public Domain. What do others think?
lowing an E-mail message
from St
-------------- Sun Oct  9 22:48:27 1988 ---------------
MAIL MAG31707 CC MAG11851 MAG100665 MAG60138 AR SU YALE CATALOG
Dear Paul,

A few points on arising from your last message.

i)   Can Dave Briggs give us some idea of when his condensed catalogue will 
     be available and the expected cost.

ii)  I am worried that there might be a loss of information and accuracy in 
     this derived catalogue. Also it is important that any newly added 
     stars are clearly indicated and their source cited.

On balance I would prefer to go for the original public domain Yale Catalog 
since we can presumably be sure of its accuracy. As far as I'm concerned 
memory is no problem but I realise that it may be different for others. 
Since the original catalogue is in ASCII most people should be able to 
compress it substantially for their machines by using numeric rather than 
character representations wherever possible.

Thanks very much for your efforts,
Nick.
r he is also working on
a graphi
   From:  THE_ASTRONOMER1  (MAG60138) Delivered:  Mon  10-Oct-88  20:18 BST Sys 10072  (33)
Subject:  THE ASTRONOMER URGENT
Mail Id:  IPM-10072-881010-182830770

THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 207 1988 Oct 10  18.57UT.
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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AY LYRAE
John Isles, Cyprus e-mails that this UGSU type variable located at
RA 18h42m43s DEC +37 57.2'(1950)
is undergoing a super-maximum as the following visual estimates
indicate:
Oct 5.69,[12.9; 7.72, 13.1; 9.70, 12.5.

V503 CYGNI
AAVSO Circular 214 received today contains a chart for this UG star
located at:
RA 20h25m33s DEC +43 31.8'(1950)
The GCVS has a range of 13.4-17.0p.
However the chart footnote mentions that identification is
uncertain and gives two possible positions. Copies of the chart can
be supplied on e-mail request and we would like e-mail advice if an
object is seen at either position so that we can arrange
photography to resolve the problem and prepare a TA chart.

3C 446
Further to the note on E-206, the negatives by Brian Manning have
now arrived and the nebulous nature of the image seems definite
unless this is due to some film fault. Photographs of the quasar
are urgently required to investigate this very important
development. The position is:
RA 22h23m11s DEC -05 12'18"(1950)
Cyprus e-mails that this UGSU type variable located at
RA 18h42m43s DEC +37 57.2'(19
     To:  STORM.DUNLOP   (MAG100665)
     To:  SUTHERLAND.P   (MAG31707)
     To:  THE_ASTRONOMER1   (MAG60138)
     To:  JAMES.N.D   (MAG90713)
   From:  DAVID_MCADAM  (MAG11851) Delivered:  Tue  11-Oct-88  22:21 BST Sys 10072  (18)
Subject:  YALE
Mail Id:  IPM-10072-881011-201261100

Dear Paul,
I am still interested in getting a copy of the original Yale catalogue, if
possible. I would be prepared to pay around a third of the 24 pounds if
there are, say, three or more people who want it.
I prefer to write my own software and have various sequences for plotting
starfields so would not be interested in a commercialised version.

Conversion of the ASCII files could be done with the two respective
machines connected via RS232 (RS423 on BBC). ie: a "null modem".
Perhaps others who are interested could perform the conversion at a
nominal charge?

I would be grateful if you can let me know what the position is.

Regards,
Dave
s that identification is
uncertain and gives two possible po   From:  THE_ASTRONOMER1  (MAG60138) Delivered:  Thu  13-Oct-88  20:48 BST Sys 10072  (22)
Subject:  THE ASTRONOMER URGENT
Mail Id:  IPM-10072-881013-187290309

THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 208 1988 Oct 13  19.34UT.
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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NOVA IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD 1988 No. 2
R. H. McNaught, Siding Spring Observatory, reports the discovery
by Gordon Garradd, Tamworth, N.S.W, of another nova in the LMC.
An exposure by McNaught on Oct. 13.5 UT with the Uppsala Southern
Schmidt telescope yields the following position:
R.A. = 5h08m14.02 Decl. = -68 41'22.6 (equinox 1950.0; rms 0".2).
Magnitude estimates by Garradd (300-mm telephoto lens + hypered
2415 film) and McNaught (visual):  Oct. 7.49, [14.5 (Garradd);
12.48, 11.3 (Garradd); 12.49, 11.3 (Garradd); 13.40, 10.4
(McNaught).  Garradd notes that the nova is very close to HV 5609,
as plotted on the Hodge/Wright atlas.  A photograph of the LMC
taken 1988 Oct. 7.72 by M. Hartley with the U.K. Schmidt Telescope
shows no change to V magnitude 19 in the general vicinity of the
nova.                                            IAUC 4663

Guy M Hurst