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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 981       1995 Aug  5 12.25UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England. Telephone/FAX(0256)471074 Int:+44256471074
INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK             GMH at AST.STAR.RL.AC.UK
WORLD WIDE WEB                    http://www.demon.co.uk/astronomer
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EDITOR'S ABSENCE
The Editor will be in Canada from August 6 to August 18 and not
contactable on TA matters. Martin Mobberley will be preparing the
August issue of TA and if there are any outstanding items they
should be e-mailed by the end of today direct to him at:
100413.760@compuserve.com
During this period, routine messages should continue to be sent to
the editor's 'demon' mailbox and will be dealt with upon his return.
Discoveries and more urgent matters should be sent to Demon AND
the Rutherford address (gmh@ast.star.rl.ac.uk) as the latter will
be monitored by Martin during my absence. Variable Star Alerts
should continue to be relayed to Gary Poyner for action.

GO COM
In the early hours of July 17 Tonny Vanmunster, Belgium, e-mailed
that he had seen a rare outburst of GO Com. The observation was
made on July 16.951UT, 13.3 (0.35-m reflector). Steve Howell in
USA has previously listed the object as a possible TOAD (The
Astronomer Vol 32 No 373 p11 [1995]).
Confirmation was forthcoming from another observer but subsequently
withdrawn on the basis of a suspect identification.
On July 30.854UT, Szentasko in Hungary reported another positive
sighting at visual magnitude 13.3. Taichi Kato, Japan confirmed
this brightening:
1995 July 31.445UT, V=13.59
     Aug   1.447UT, V=13.52
Further observations of this unusual activity would be welcomed.

COMET C/1995 O1 (HALE-BOPP)
Stefan Beck, Germany e-mails a further observation:
1995 July 25.90UT, 10.8, diameter 1.0'. (0.15-m reflector).

Guy M Hurst