------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1057 1996 Mar 10 10.00UT 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- COMET 22P/KOPFF Herman Mikuz reports CCD observations of this comet using a 0.20-m f2 Baker-Schmidt telescope with V filter and ST6 CCD. Date MM Mag ref Aper type f x dia DC Tldeg Tlpa 960218.19 V 13.0 GA 20.0 T 2 3 3 Alan Hale, Cloudcroft, USA also reports visual magnitude estimates: 1996 Feb 19.51, 12.4; 23.46, 12.2 (IAUC 6324) T 1996 July 2.2305 TT w 162.83828 ) e 0.54403720 O 120.91433 ) 2000.0 q 1.5795510 A.U. i 4.72129 ) Source: NK 593 Positions are geocentric The above elements appeared in the ICQ Handbook for 1996. The following ephemeris shows that although the comet remains far south it is expected to be visible in binoculars according to the following magnitude formula by Dan Green (ICQ): m = 3.0 + 5.0 log R + 26.0 log r Date R.A. (2000) Dec. R r Elong Mag. Motion h m o ' (AU) (AU) o "/hr P.A. 1996 Mar 8.00 16 47.17 -16 38.5 1.582 1.943 95.2 11.5 72 94 13.00 16 57.18 -16 46.3 1.509 1.916 97.8 11.2 72 93 18.00 17 7.13 -16 51.5 1.438 1.891 100.4 11.0 71 92 23.00 17 17.01 -16 54.3 1.369 1.866 103.0 10.7 71 91 28.00 17 26.78 -16 54.7 1.303 1.841 105.5 10.5 70 90 1996 Apr 2.00 17 36.43 -16 52.8 1.238 1.818 108.1 10.2 69 89 7.00 17 45.92 -16 49.0 1.176 1.795 110.8 10.0 68 88 12.00 17 55.21 -16 43.4 1.117 1.773 113.4 9.7 66 87 17.00 18 4.26 -16 36.3 1.060 1.751 116.1 9.5 64 87 22.00 18 13.03 -16 28.1 1.006 1.731 118.8 9.2 62 86 27.00 18 21.46 -16 19.3 0.954 1.712 121.6 9.0 60 86 1996 May 2.00 18 29.53 -16 10.4 0.905 1.694 124.5 8.7 57 86 7.00 18 37.17 -16 2.0 0.859 1.677 127.4 8.5 54 86 12.00 18 44.34 -15 54.6 0.816 1.661 130.5 8.3 50 86 17.00 18 50.97 -15 49.1 0.776 1.646 133.7 8.1 46 87 22.00 18 57.01 -15 46.1 0.740 1.633 137.0 7.9 41 89 27.00 19 2.42 -15 46.4 0.706 1.621 140.4 7.7 37 92 1996 June 1.00 19 7.17 -15 50.6 0.676 1.611 144.0 7.5 32 96 6.00 19 11.24 -15 59.5 0.649 1.602 147.8 7.4 27 102 11.00 19 14.60 -16 13.5 0.625 1.594 151.8 7.2 23 111 16.00 19 17.26 -16 32.9 0.605 1.588 156.0 7.1 20 124 21.00 19 19.26 -16 57.8 0.589 1.584 160.3 7.0 18 138 26.00 19 20.69 -17 27.9 0.577 1.581 164.8 7.0 18 152 1996 July 1.00 19 21.67 -18 2.5 0.569 1.580 169.3 6.9 19 163 6.00 19 22.32 -18 40.8 0.565 1.580 173.8 6.9 20 169 11.00 19 22.78 -19 21.6 0.566 1.582 177.3 6.9 21 172 16.00 19 23.22 -20 3.6 0.570 1.586 175.3 7.0 21 171 21.00 19 23.83 -20 45.3 0.579 1.591 170.9 7.1 21 166 26.00 19 24.79 -21 25.4 0.593 1.598 166.3 7.2 21 157 31.00 19 26.23 -22 2.7 0.610 1.606 161.8 7.3 21 146 Guy M Hurst