------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1011 1995 Oct 28 19.21UT 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- COMET P/1995 S3 (MRKOS) Reports of CCD recoveries of comet P/1991 F1 (= 1991 IV = 1991k) have been received: 1995 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. m1 Observer Sept.20.42429 3 14 55.23 +45 29 58.7 Larson 20.43899 3 14 54.96 +45 30 07.5 " 28.37233 3 11 15.29 +46 42 59.7 Offutt Oct. 21.30848 2 49 27.76 +49 29 35.2 19.2 " S. M. Larson (Lunar and Planetary Laboratory). 2.3-m f/2 Steward reflector, Kitt Peak. W. Offutt (Cloudcroft, New Mexico). 0.6-m f/7 Ritchey-Chretien. The following improved orbital elements, by B. G. Marsden, satisfy 62 observations 1991-1995 with mean residual 1".01: Epoch = 1996 Nov. 13.0 TT T = 1996 Nov. 9.0771 TT Peri. = 180.5221 e = 0.554249 Node = 1.6528 2000.0 q = 1.412898 AU Incl. = 31.4708 a = 3.169705 AU n = 0.1746529 P = 5.643 years IAUC 6250 51 PEGASI M. Mayor and D. Queloz, Geneva Observatory, have reported the discovery of a Jupiter-mass object in orbit around the solar-type star 51 Peg. The claim is based on 18 months of precise Doppler measurements made with the ELODIE spectrograph of the Observatoire de Haute-Provence. The parameters of the orbital motion are as follows: P = 4.2293 +/- 0.0011 days, e = 0 (assumed), K = 0.059 +/- 0.003 km/s, T0 = 2449797.773 +/- 0.036. The minimum mass of the companion is 0.47 +/- 0.02 Jupiter mass. IAUC 6251 (Further details will appear in 'The Astronomer' Nov issue-Ed). EDITORIAL MAIL Following the Editor's return all e-mail can now be sent to the Demon address only as per earlier arrangements. In the case of potential discoveries, however, it would be appropriate for copies to also be sent to Rutherford. Guy M Hurst