------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1367 1998 Dec 21 21,41UT 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- COMET C/1998 X1 (ODAS) The Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur-Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft und Raumfahrt Asteroid Survey (ODAS) reports the discovery of a comet. 1998 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. m1 Observer Dec. 15.17384 9 59 03.68 +13 54 35.1 18.3 Maury 15.21959 9 59 04.53 +13 54 30.4 18.3 " 16.13874 9 59 22.04 +13 53 08.5 18.9 Maury 16.16045 9 59 22.37 +13 53 05.9 19.1 " 17.21033 9 59 40.24 +13 51 43.2 18.6 Colas 17.26252 9 59 41.03 +13 51 39.2 19.4 " A. Maury, D. Albanese, G. Hahn and M. Hoffmann (Caussols). 0.90-m Schmidt. Dec. 15: 1' tail in p.a. 300 deg. Dec. 16: image diffuse. F. Colas and J. Lecacheux (Pic du Midi). 1.05-m f/6 reflector. The orbit of this comet is extremely indeterminate, but the following parabolic elements should provide a useful early ephemeris. The comet is probably a short-period one. T = 1998 Aug. 19.081 TT Peri. = 63.239 Node = 7.550 2000.0 q = 1.87795 AU Incl. = 1.261 1998/99 R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong.Phase m1 Dec. 18 9 59.87 +13 50.8 1.760 2.393 118.6 21.2 18.0 23 10 00.71 +13 47.1 1.744 2.430 123.5 19.7 18.1 28 10 00.79 +13 47.3 1.731 2.467 128.6 18.2 18.1 Jan. 2 10 00.16 +13 51.0 1.722 2.505 133.8 16.4 18.2 1998 XZ8 Jean-Claude Merlin, France, reports his discovery of an asteroid, designated by the Central Bureau as 1998 XZ8. Available measures: C1998 12 14.84519 06 53 04.06 +40 11 19.7 16.7 504 C1998 12 14.84706 06 53 03.98 +40 11 19.4 16.5 504 C1998 12 14.85069 06 53 03.68 +40 11 18.2 16.4 504 C1998 12 14.85256 06 53 03.58 +40 11 17.8 504 C1998 12 16.02171 06 51 40.43 +40 07 30.1 16.4 504 C1998 12 16.02391 06 51 40.27 +40 07 29.7 16.2 504 C1998 12 16.02964 06 51 39.89 +40 07 28.6 16.4 504 C1998 12 16.05240 06 51 38.13 +40 07 25.4 15.8 504 C1998 12 16.05456 06 51 38.04 +40 07 25.0 15.9 504 C1998 12 16.05814 06 51 37.81 +40 07 24.0 15.9 504 C1998 12 16.05985 06 51 37.63 +40 07 23.3 16.0 504 C1998 12 18.81201 06 48 17.77 +39 57 10.4 15.6 504 C1998 12 18.81919 06 48 17.22 +39 57 09.6 15.8 504 C1998 12 18.82084 06 48 17.06 +39 57 09.3 15.8 504 C1998 12 18.82302 06 48 17.04 +39 57 08.8 15.9 504 Orbital elements with FIND_ORB : Perihelion 1998 Jun 5.178447 TT Epoch 1999 Jan 2.0 TT = JDT 2451180.5 M 37.93063 (2000.0) P Q n 0.17991818 Peri. 78.02275 0.84604263 -0.48278430 a 3.1075588 Node 310.37952 0.29469678 0.77698149 e 0.3168077 Incl. 17.26777 0.44425857 0.40400381 P 5.48 H 12.7 q 2.1230603 >From 15 observations 1998 Dec. 14-18; RMS error 0.752 arcseconds Guy M Hurst