TA e-circular

<title>TA e-circular</title>
<pre>
THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 222 1988 Dec 05  20.17UT.
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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SHUTTLE
N.James (MAG90713) e-mails:
"The launch of the current military shuttle mission offers a rare
opportunity to see the orbiter from the UK since it is in an
orbit with an inclination of 57 degrees. Assuming an altitude of
300km and an injection time of 1440UT on Dec 2 I have calculated
the following visible passes for lat = 52deg, long = 0deg:

Orbit 17  Time at apex: Dec  3  16:41UT
Apex   Sub-satellite    Alt    Az
        Lat    Long
 +6m   50.2N    5.0W   33.9   118.3W
 +7m   48.0N    0.3W   31.1   177.6W

Orbit 33  Time at apex: Dec  4  16:57UT
Apex   Sub-satellite    Alt    Az
        Lat    Long
 +6m   50.2N    9.0W   20.9   104.5W
 +7m   48.0N    4.3W   25.9   144.2W

Neither of these passes will be particulary easy to observe
because of twilight and low altitude. The calculations are based
on a number of assumptions and may be in error by many minutes."

COMET 1988p (SMM 6)
O. C. St. Cyr, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, reports his
discovery of another comet during routine inspection of
coronagraph/polarimeter (C/P) images from the Solar Maximum
Mission.
Measurements have again been made by A. Stanger, High Altitude
Observatory, and reduced by D. Pitone and B. Twambly at the SMM
Flight Dynamics Facility:

     1988 UT            R.A. (1950) Decl.
     Nov. 18.17708    15 33 04     -19 52.8
          18.24861    15 34 22     -19 36.6
          18.25972    15 34 34     -19 34.8

SMM 6, estimated at mag +1, is perhaps the faintest comet
detected by C/P, although sporadic electronic artifacts in the raw
data have precluded other position measurements and a reliable
brightness estimate.  These artifacts and the comet's faintness
also mean that the above positions are more uncertain than usual
(accuracy 0.2 solar radii, 2 deg in p.a.).  The comet's projected
path on the plane of the sky appeared to miss the occulting disk
(radius 1.7 solar radii).  The object disappeared in a coronal
streamer and was not detected again.  Nevertheless, computations by
the undersigned show that the above observations can be represented
within 2' by the orbital elements on IAUC 4668 for SMM 5 and T =
1988 Nov. 18.35 ET, and the fit is within 1' with T = 1988 Nov.
18.36 ET and  q  changed from 0.0053 to 0.0056 AU.
                                                 IAUC 4684
Guy M Hurst
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