------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1076 1996 May 14 18.50UT 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 C/1996 J1 (EVANS-DRINKWATER) Robert H. McNaught, Anglo-Australian Observatory, reports the discovery by Robert Evans of a comet on a U.K. Schmidt Telescope R film exposed by M. J. Drinkwater. The following observations are available: 1996 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. m1 Observer May 10.44268 10 53 -23 20 Evans 12.57190 10 52 36.26 -23 06 23.2 16 Jerjen 12.58223 10 52 36.18 -23 06 18.5 " M. J. Drinkwater (Siding Spring). U.K. Schmidt Telescope. Mid- time of 15-min exposure (comet appears as a short, saturated trail). Tail about 0'.5 long toward the northeast. IAUC 6397 (extract) Parabolic orbital elements from 11 observations May 10-13: T 1996 Dec 27.8570 TT w 13.76300 ) e 1.00000000 O 278.90800 ) 2000.0 q 1.3019200 A.U. i 22.45700 ) Source: IAUC 6398 Positions are geocentric Ephemeris by Guy Hurst using EPH.EXE by Nick James: m = 8.5 + 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. 1996 May 14.00 10 52.45 -22 55.5 2.710 3.291 116.8 15.8 19 350 15.00 10 52.36 -22 47.9 2.710 3.281 115.9 15.8 19 352 16.00 10 52.30 -22 40.4 2.711 3.271 115.1 15.8 19 355 17.00 10 52.26 -22 32.9 2.712 3.260 114.2 15.8 19 357 18.00 10 52.25 -22 25.6 2.713 3.250 113.3 15.8 18 359 19.00 10 52.26 -22 18.3 2.714 3.239 112.5 15.8 18 2 20.00 10 52.29 -22 11.0 2.716 3.229 111.6 15.8 18 5 21.00 10 52.34 -22 3.9 2.717 3.218 110.8 15.7 18 7 22.00 10 52.42 -21 56.9 2.719 3.208 109.9 15.7 18 10 23.00 10 52.52 -21 49.9 2.720 3.197 109.1 15.7 18 13 24.00 10 52.64 -21 43.1 2.722 3.187 108.2 15.7 18 15 25.00 10 52.79 -21 36.3 2.724 3.176 107.4 15.7 18 18 26.00 10 52.96 -21 29.7 2.725 3.166 106.5 15.7 18 21 27.00 10 53.15 -21 23.1 2.727 3.155 105.7 15.7 18 23 28.00 10 53.36 -21 16.7 2.729 3.145 104.8 15.7 18 26 29.00 10 53.60 -21 10.3 2.731 3.134 104.0 15.6 18 29 30.00 10 53.86 -21 4.1 2.733 3.124 103.2 15.6 18 31 31.00 10 54.14 -20 58.0 2.735 3.113 102.3 15.6 18 34 FG SAGITTAE S. Shugarov, Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow, reports that this variable has faded to mag V about 16 and B about 17 on Apr. 24.04 UT. A CCD image by R. Royer, Lakewood, CA, yields mag 16-16.5 on May 7.36. IAUC 6393 Janet Mattei, AAVSO, adds the variable is currently fainter than at any time since 1894. IAUC 6397 Guy M Hurst