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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1846      2003 Jan 20 19.09UT
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
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HT CAM (Q2003/OO5)
Eddie Muyllaert, Ostend, Belgium, reports his visual detection of a
rare outburst of the variable star HT Cam. 

On 2003 Jan 19.767UT, Muyllaert estimated it at magnitude 12.4
using a sequence by Arne Henden.

Arto Oksanen, Finland, has reported on VSNET:

I could observe a bit over three hours (Jan 19/20, 2003 23:23-03:00
UT). The light curve is very interesting, lots of 9-10 minute 0.1
mag oscillations and larger 'flares', one lasted 20 minutes. There
was a fading trend but it turned to a slow rise after 2UT. There
also seemed to be very short timescale flickering as the light
curve looks noisy even though S/N was over 200 at the beginning of
the run.

MOUNT STROMLO OBSERVATORY
Rev Bob Evans, Australia, has sent us several e-mails with the sad
news that irreplaceable equipment worth millions of dollars was
destroyed when the Canberra bushfires ravaged the historic Mount
Stromlo Observatory.

We understand that although staff were given just 20 minutes'
notice to evacuate, there was no loss of life.

Sadly the fire destroyed all the observatory's telescopes and the
original observatory building, which dated back to 1924 when it
initially operated as the Commonwealth Solar Observatory.

It is possible some research records may have been saved but the
overall loss is clearly devastating, not only from the point of
view of science but also culturally.

Guy M Hurst