------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1836 2002 Dec 24 11.30UT 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.theastronomer.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRISTMAS GREETINGS I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very happy Christmas and successful 2003. Although the editor will be unavailable during part of Dec 26 due to work commitments, it is still hoped to issue the traditional annual Christmas quiz some time that day so please monitor your mailboxes. BZ URSAE MAJORIS E. Muyllaert, Belgium, has reported his detection of an outburst of BZ UMa on 2002 Dec 19.257UT when he estimated the visual magnitude as 12.4 using the AAVSO sequence. He made a follow-up observation on Dec 19.885UT which showed a steep rise to magnitude 11.4. Tonny Vanmunster, CBA Belgium Observatory, has also reported that on 2002 Dec 19/20 he obtained unfiltered CCD images of BZ UMa using a 0.35-m f/6.3 SCT with ST-7 CCD for about 5.05 hours, under relatively poor conditions. Taichi Kato, Japan, adds on VSNET that the last confirmed outburst was in May of 2001. The object is reported to have a short orbital period (below the period gap) which may imply the SU UMa-type nature of this variable. Guy M Hurst