------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2259 2006 Aug 31 13.30UT 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 Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.theastronomer.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITOR'S ABSENCE The editor will be away attending a conference and on a business trip from Friday until Sunday evening. During that time please refer any urgent queries (eg discoveries) to either Nick James (contact details on the first page of each issue of the magazine), or to the editor by using his mobile number 07905332226. SDSS J230351.64 Gary Poyner, Birmingham, England, reports that Ian Miller has detected a rare outburst of this Recurrent 0bjects Programme (ROP) star, which he was able to confirm: 2006 Aug 29.953 14.5C Miller Aug 30.068 14.2v Poyner Gary adds that this star was added to the ROP in 2003, since when there have been no outbursts reported. Taichi Kato comments on VSNET alert 8995... So, the amplitude of the current outburst is (at least) 4.9 mag. Although this is not well above usual thresholds of SU UMa-type superoutbursts, the literature description would make it a suitable target for time-resolved photometry. The reported "low mass-transfer" for such a period (100 min) is relatively rare; from the lack of prominent emission from the hot spot in quiescence, the object may resemble rather unusual dwarf novae like HT Cas. A chart may be found here... http://joevp.20m.com/charts/sdss/ COMET 29P/SCHWASSMANN-WACHMANN Giovanni Sostero and Ernest Guido, Italy, report that their images of this comet for 2006 August 28 and August 30 show the comet in outburst on the latter. The Afrho parameter (measured within a radius of almost 25,000 Km at the comet distance) passed from 1,600 cm (Aug. 28.41) up to 10,000 cm (Aug. 30.39) --> ~6.5 fold increase. Probably in the next few days we will witness the development of the classic asymmetric coma. 2006, Aug. 28.41, mag=15.8, coma diameter +0'.4 (E. Guido and G. Sostero, remotely near Mayhill, NM, 0.25-m reflector + CCD + Cousins R). 2006, Aug. 30.39, mag=14.2, coma diameter +0'.4 (E. Guido and G. Sostero, remotely near Mayhill, NM, 0.25-m reflector + CCD + Cousins R). The central condensation is bright and starlike. Guy M Hurst