THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 596 1992 Jan 7 19.09UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England. Telephone/FAX(0256)471074 Int:+44256471074
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GMH at UK.AC.CAM.ASTRONOMY.STARLINK or GUYH at UK.AC.SUSSEX.CLUSTER
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COMET MUELLER (1991h1)
On 1991 Dec. 18 Jean Mueller reported her discovery of a probable
comet on a single exposure on Dec. 13 by C. Brewer, D. Mendenhall
and herself with the 1.2-m Oschin telescope in the course of
Palomar Sky Survey II. The object was diffuse with a possible
faint tail to the southwest. The discovery has now been confirmed
on a film obtained on Dec. 31 by E. M. Shoemaker, C. S. Shoemaker
and D. H. Levy with the 0.46-m Schmidt. The following measurements
are all by Mueller:
1991 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. m1 Observer
Dec. 13.48264 9 38 56.16 +42 31 23.9 17.5 Mueller
13.52778 9 38 53.58 +42 31 53.0 "
31.35486 8 58 02.50 +47 38 09.3 16 Shoemaker
31.39444 8 57 52.55 +47 38 58.2 "
IAUC 5420
Elements:
T 1992 Mar 21.1960 TDT w 307.01100 )
e 1.00000000 O 288.79500 ) 2000.0
q 0.1987100 A.U. i 95.52400 )
Source: IAUC 5421 Positions are geocentric
m = 13.0 + 5.0 log R + 10.0 log r
Ephemeris by Hurst using a program developed by N.James:
Date R.A. (2000) Dec. R r Elong Mag. Motion
h m o ' (AU) (AU) o "/hr P.A.
1992 Jan
4.00 8 40.81 +48 54.5 0.913 1.817 146.7 15.4 142 291
9.00 8 8.81 +50 29.5 0.808 1.731 150.1 14.9 183 283
14.00 7 25.07 +51 25.2 0.716 1.643 149.9 14.4 233 273
19.00 6 29.65 +50 50.8 0.642 1.553 144.7 14.0 288 260
24.00 5 28.12 +47 51.3 0.589 1.461 134.8 13.5 336 247
29.00 4 30.10 +42 10.0 0.561 1.366 121.7 13.1 362 235
1992 Feb
3.00 3 42.39 +34 34.1 0.558 1.268 107.2 12.8 355 227
8.00 3 5.90 +26 22.6 0.578 1.167 92.8 12.5 323 221
13.00 2 38.35 +18 36.9 0.616 1.063 79.4 12.2 279 218
18.00 2 16.96 +11 44.3 0.666 0.954 67.2 11.9 238 216
23.00 1 59.35 +5 47.4 0.723 0.841 56.3 11.5 206 216
28.00 1 43.58 +0 38.5 0.785 0.722 46.2 11.1 185 219
Although the comet could reach magnitude 6 in mid March, the solar
elongation will be only 11 degrees and the object will fade rapidly
thereafter.
SUPERNOVA 1991bj IN IC 344
C. Pollas, Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, reports his discovery
of a supernova of mag 18.8 in IC 344 (mag 15) on exposures with the
0.9-m Schmidt telescope on 1991 Dec. 30.9 and 31.9 UT. The object
is at R.A. = 3h39m01s.27, Decl. = -4d49'23".5 (equinox 1950.0),
the offset from the nucleus being 14".0 east, 7".6 north. A nearby
star of mag 16 is located R.A. = 3h38m59s.67, Decl. = -4d49'14".8,
and one of mag 17 is at end figures 58.81, 15.2.
IAUC 5420
CY UMA
Patrick Schmeer, Germany, reports a superoutburst of this variable:
1991 Dec 16.06UT, [14.0; 24.142, 12.2; 27.922, 12.7; 29.001, 12.7.
The previous observed supermaximum occurred in 1990 Sept(IAUC 5094)
Guy M Hurst