------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2224 2006 Apr 26 11.31UT 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 Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.theastronomer.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- TA, 2006 APRIL It appears that some copies of the magazine have been delivered to subscribers this morning (Apr 26) so hopefully the others will not be delayed too long. I have taken the liberty, purely as an experiment, to place the front cover and editorial page only of the 2006 April issue on a temporary page on my own website. You may wish to view these whilst waiting for the full paper copy to arrive. My home page is: http://www.guyhurst.co.uk/ The actual page showing links to pdf's of the cover and editorial can also be accessed direct at: http://www.tahq.demon.co.uk/guy_hurst_online/The_Astronomer.htm You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free on WWW to view these pages and this can be downloaded at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html COMET 73P/SCHWASSMANN-WACHMANN In response to Mark Kidger's note on TA E-Circular 2223, Guy Hurst, Basingstoke, imaged both fragments B and C last night (Apr 25, 21.28-21.31UT) through thin cloud using a Canon 10D digital SLR and 85mm f1.8 lens with a sequence of 30 second exposures at ISO 400. Despite thin clouds passing across the field, both fragments were easily recorded. Approximate magnitudes of the nuclear region only: Fragment C = 8.9 (well condensed with a short tail) Fragment D = 9.8 (extended but very diffuse) It therefore did not seem there was a surge in brightness of fragment 'B' on that date and it seemed much fainter than 'C' on all exposures although with some uncertainty due to the cloudy conditions. Guy M Hurst