THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 580 1991 Nov 14 20.31UT Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4PP,England. Telephone/FAX(0256)471074 Int:+44256471074 Telex: 9312111261 Answerback: TA G JANET BOXES: GMH at UK.AC.CAM.ASTRONOMY.STARLINK or GUYH at UK.AC.SUSSEX.CLUSTER TELECOM GOLD: 10074:MIK2885 PRESTEL 256471074 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PERIODIC COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY 6 (1991b1) Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker and David H. Levy report their discovery, on 0.46-m Schmidt films taken at Palomar, of a fast- moving comet. Approximate positions follow: 1991 UT R.A. (1950) Decl. m1 Nov. 7.190 0 07.0 - 1 35 13 9.193 0 11.5 + 1 50 10.156 0 14.3 + 3 33 The comet is strongly condensed on the films, with a coma of diameter about 30". On Nov. 10.16, there was a tail about 1' long toward the east; at about this same time, Levy estimated m1 = 12.7 visually in a 0.15-m reflector. IAUC 5382 Elements: T 1991 Oct 13.8620 E.T. w 333.12100 ) e 0.70354000 O 37.26300 ) 1950.0 q 1.1320700 A.U. i 16.82100 ) Source: IAUC 5386 Positions are geocentric m = 13.0 + 5.0 log R + 10.0 log r Date R.A. (1950) Dec. R r Elong Mag. Motion h m o ' (AU) (AU) o "/hr P.A. 1991 Oct 31.00 23 48.38 -15 50.4 0.222 1.156 133.0 10.4 323 17 1991 Nov 5.00 0 1.41 -5 48.8 0.233 1.171 136.2 10.5 305 18 10.00 0 14.10 +3 15.3 0.252 1.190 138.0 10.8 270 20 15.00 0 26.53 +10 58.7 0.279 1.212 138.4 11.1 229 23 20.00 0 38.76 +17 17.8 0.312 1.237 137.7 11.4 191 27 25.00 0 50.82 +22 21.3 0.350 1.265 136.6 11.7 159 32 30.00 1 2.76 +26 21.5 0.393 1.295 135.1 12.1 133 37 1991 Dec 5.00 1 14.63 +29 31.0 0.440 1.327 133.4 12.4 114 43 10.00 1 26.49 +32 0.6 0.491 1.361 131.6 12.8 101 49 15.00 1 38.34 +33 59.0 0.545 1.397 129.8 13.1 91 54 20.00 1 50.20 +35 33.0 0.602 1.434 127.8 13.5 84 60 25.00 2 2.05 +36 47.7 0.663 1.473 125.9 13.8 79 65 30.00 2 13.90 +37 47.0 0.726 1.513 123.8 14.1 75 69 1992 Jan 4.00 2 25.74 +38 34.2 0.792 1.553 121.7 14.4 73 73 9.00 2 37.58 +39 11.6 0.862 1.594 119.5 14.7 71 76 SUPERNOVA 1991be IN ANONYMOUS GALAXY R. H. McNaught, Anglo-Australian Observatory, reports his discovery of a supernova (mag about 18.5) on a J plate taken by M. J. Drinkwater with the U.K. Schmidt Telescope on Nov. 7.4 UT. The supernova is situated towards the edge of the galaxy, offset from the center by 7" west and 1" south. Coordinates for the supernova are R.A. = 21h30m03s.90, Decl. = -42 26'05".3 (equinox 1950.0, uncertainty 0".5 in each coordinate). Images appear on U.K. Schmidt J plates taken by S. M. Hughes on Oct. 31.4 and Nov. 1.4 when it was somewhat fainter at mag about 19. A nearby star of mag about 17.5 is at R.A. = 21h30m08s.27, Decl. = -42 25'48".8. IAUC 5382 V1251 CYGNI Stefan Korth, Germany e-mails recent estimates of this outburst: 1991 Oct 29.844UT, 13.5; 29.885, 13.6. Guy M Hurst