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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 984       1995 Aug 14 19.00UT
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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PERSEID METEORS 1995
     K. Suzuki, Kozakai Senior High School, Aichi, Japan, reports
that an outburst of Perseid meteors was detected by monitoring
forward-scattered meteor echoes via the MU radar wave of Kyoto
University (46.5 MHz, 1 MW) at Toyokawa Meteor Observatory in Aichi.
The maximum hourly rate of echoes reached 300 during Aug. 12.71-
12.79 UT, corresponding to a solar longitude of 139.6 deg (equinox
2000.0).  The hourly rate of long-period (> 5 s) echoes increased
to 5-8 times the usual rate.
IAUC 6205

COMET C/1995 O1 (HALE-BOPP)
     D. George, Kanata, ON, provides the following total magnitude
estimate from an apparent image of the comet on a prediscovery
photograph taken by T. Dickinson (observing in the Chiricahua
Mountains, AZ; 85-mm f/1.7 lens, Kodak Royal Gold 400 film):  May
29.40 UT, 11.7.
IAUC 6205

SATURN
     Further to the item on EC 983, T. Dobbins and S. J. O'Meara
report that a photograph taken with the Lick Observatory 0.91-m
refractor on Aug. 12 UT, some 13 hr after ring-plane passage and
using an occulting disk to mask the planet's glare, shows ring
material (possibly due to ring E) out to 2.9 Saturn radii on the
preceding side only.  The first white spot noted on IAUC 6204 had
lost contrast (and dimmed) by Aug. 13 UT, and it had drifted to
longitude 359 deg (system I).
IAUC 6205

Martin Mobberley