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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1227      1997 Aug 25 16.42UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074
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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COMET C/1997 P2 (SPACEWATCH)
The comet reported on E1223 has been designated as above and may
be of short period.

Orbital elements by Brian Marsden:

T  1997 Oct  27.9840 TT      w  49.15800 )
e  1.00000000                O 292.88000 ) 2000.0
q  3.2065500 A.U.            i   9.40300 )
Source: IAUC 6719    Positions are geocentric

Ephemeris by Guy Hurst using EPH.EXE by Nick James:

m = 11.5 + 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.
1997 Aug
  20.00  21 36.75   -6 30.8   2.269   3.274  172.2  18.4    16  276
  25.00  21 34.66   -6 27.7   2.267   3.265  169.0  18.4    15  275
  30.00  21 32.68   -6 25.5   2.271   3.256  164.6  18.4    14  274
1997 Sept
   4.00  21 30.91   -6 23.8   2.283   3.248  159.9  18.4    12  274
   9.00  21 29.40   -6 22.3   2.300   3.241  155.0  18.4    10  274
  14.00  21 28.22   -6 20.7   2.323   3.234  150.1  18.4     8  276
  19.00  21 27.41   -6 18.8   2.352   3.228  145.2  18.4     5  283
  24.00  21 27.01   -6 16.3   2.387   3.223  140.3  18.5     2  315
  29.00  21 27.04   -6 13.0   2.426   3.219  135.6  18.5     3   45
1997 Oct
   4.00  21 27.54   -6  8.5   2.470   3.215  130.9  18.5     6   65
   9.00  21 28.50   -6  2.8   2.518   3.212  126.3  18.6     9   70
  14.00  21 29.94   -5 55.7   2.570   3.209  121.8  18.6    13   72
  19.00  21 31.84   -5 47.0   2.625   3.208  117.4  18.7    17   73
  24.00  21 34.19   -5 36.6   2.683   3.207  113.1  18.7    20   74
  29.00  21 36.98   -5 24.4   2.744   3.207  108.9  18.8    23   74

V4368 SAGITTARII
In addition to the responses to Q1997/052 detailed on E1224 which
confirmed the object reported by G.Klaus in Sgr as V4368 Sgr,
Gordon Garradd in Australia also replied after receiving our appeal
via Rob McNaught. He has submitted an image and reports a
precise position which has also been published on IAUC 6720:
1997 Aug 19.39506UT RA 18h54m40.34s DEC -19 41'59.7"(2000)
The image was obtained using the 0.45-m reflector.

Seiichiro Kiyota, Japan has also e-mailed us to point out that the
object has remained near magnitude 10 since its discovery by
Wakuda.

Guy M Hurst