THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 810 1994 Jan 16 16.46UT 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 TELECOM GOLD: 10074:MIK2885 GMH at UK.AC.RUTHERFORD.STARLINK.ASTROPHYSICS STARLINK: RLSAC::GMH GMH at UK.AC.CAM.ASTRONOMY.STARLINK STARLINK: CAVAD::GMH ------------------------------------------------------------------- PERIODIC COMET KUSHIDA (1994a) Graham Keitch, Manaton, UK reports that he has observed this comet in binoculars as follows: 1994 Jan 13.99UT, magnitude 9.9 (20x100B). Jan 14.06UT, magnitude 9.6 (10x50B). Improved orbital elements (cf E-809) indicate that this is a short- period comet: T 1993 Dec 12.9930 TT w 214.70600 ) e 0.63365000 O 245.78100 ) 2000.0 q 1.3660600 A.U. i 4.16700 ) Source: IAUC 5922 Positions are geocentric The following revised ephemeris, replacing that on E-809, has been computed by G.Hurst using EPH.EXE by N.James: m = 10.5 + 5.0 log R + 10.0 log r Date R.A. (2000) Dec. R r Elong Mag. Motion h m o ' (AU) (AU) o "/hr P.A. 1994 Jan 13.00 9 47.97 +2 30.6 0.497 1.413 143.1 10.5 26 146 18.00 9 49.39 +1 53.0 0.499 1.429 147.3 10.5 17 157 23.00 9 49.79 +1 27.3 0.503 1.447 151.6 10.6 10 182 28.00 9 49.35 +1 13.0 0.511 1.467 156.1 10.7 7 233 1994 Feb 2.00 9 48.29 +1 9.5 0.522 1.488 160.5 10.8 10 274 7.00 9 46.82 +1 15.6 0.538 1.511 164.6 10.9 13 293 12.00 9 45.20 +1 29.7 0.557 1.536 167.7 11.1 15 306 17.00 9 43.67 +1 49.8 0.581 1.562 168.8 11.3 15 317 22.00 9 42.44 +2 13.7 0.610 1.590 167.5 11.4 15 329 27.00 9 41.67 +2 39.7 0.643 1.619 164.5 11.6 14 344 1994 Mar 4.00 9 41.47 +3 6.0 0.680 1.648 160.6 11.8 13 3 9.00 9 41.88 +3 31.3 0.722 1.679 156.3 12.0 13 24 14.00 9 42.96 +3 54.3 0.768 1.711 151.9 12.3 15 44 19.00 9 44.71 +4 14.3 0.819 1.743 147.6 12.5 18 60 24.00 9 47.11 +4 30.5 0.873 1.776 143.4 12.7 21 70 29.00 9 50.11 +4 42.9 0.932 1.810 139.3 12.9 25 78 PG 0943+521 Taichi Kato, Japan e-mails: "The cataclysmic variable PG 0943+521 is currently experiencing a plateau following an outburst, just like standstills in some Z Cam stars (G. Poyner, private communication). A series of V-band CCD photometry has revealed periodic modulation with a period of 0.0655 day (or its one-day aliases) and an amplitude of 0.15 mag. The light curve shows rather sharp minimum in contrast to usual superhumps in SU UMa stars, but the short period and the constancy of the profile support the idea that the object really belongs to the SU UMa subclass. Further observations are recommended to follow its outburst behaviour. The object is located at 09h 43m 50.75s +52deg 08' 03.6" (J1950.0)"