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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1320      1998 Jul 15 19.01UT
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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POSSIBLE OCCULTATION OF HIP 79692 BY 2218 WOTHO 1998 JULY 17/18
Richard Miles e-mails:
This small-sized 32 km diameter object is predicted to occult the
bright star, HIP 79692 (V=6.1) located at:

RA(2000): 16h 15m 51s Dec(2000) -14deg 50'57"

Observational coverage should span 21:10-21:32 UT, with the
expected mid-time (from the UK) = 21:21 UT

Event Rating: Good (star very bright - video monitoring possible)
Unfortunately, although the position of the star is accurately
known, that of the asteroid is probably accurate to only +/-0.5
arcsec, which translates on the ground to an uncertainty of +/-1000
km!  The current prediction places the shadow track some 0.2-0.3
arcsec from the UK.

The maximum duration of the event is expected to be about 4.2
seconds. The near-naked-eye star may dip in brightness by more than
10 magnitudes (more than a factor of 10000!) and so should be
extremely easy to detect.

Note that seen from the UK, the event takes place at a low altitude
above the horizon in the range, 17-24 deg, and an azimuth of about
190 deg. The Moon will be set and so will not interfere with
observation. However, care will be needed to successfully locate
the 6th magnitude star during evening twilight especially if you
are observing from Scotland or Ireland.

Visual observers and those equipped with CCDs, camcorders or
photoelectric photometers may wish to monitor this very close
appulse / occultation. The width of the shadow track if coincident
with the UK will be relatively narrow extending about 70 km
stretching from north-east to south-west.

A finder chart  can be found at:
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~baa/2218.gif

COMET 1998 M6
J. Montani reports his discovery of a comet visually on the
image-display monitor during the course of routine scanning with
the Spacewatch 0.9-m telescope at Kitt Peak.  A hint of a very
faint fan-shaped tail of length about 10"-20" lies in p.a. 175-200
deg.  The coma diameter measured 6" and 8" on June 30 and July 1,
respectively.  Available astrometry:

     1998 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.        m1
     June 30.34038   20 57 58.45   -17 24 09.2   18.9
          30.36233   20 57 57.44   -17 24 04.7   18.9
          30.38417   20 57 56.42   -17 23 59.2   19.0
     July  1.35790   20 57 11.23   -17 20 25.9   19.0
           1.37000   20 57 10.63   -17 20 23.3   18.7
           1.44301   20 57 07.19   -17 20 07.4   18.7
           1.45423   20 57 06.64   -17 20 05.2   18.9
IAUC 6960

Guy M Hurst