Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 3079: 1977f; P/COMAS SOLA; Occn BY URANUS ON 1977 Aug. 26; Occn OF SAO 99401 BY (2); MXB1730-335
The following International Astronomical Union Circular may be linked-to from your own Web pages, but must not otherwise be redistributed (see these notes on the conditions under which circulars are made available on our WWW site).
Read IAUC 3080
Circular No. 3079
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Cable Address: SATELLITES, NEWYORK Telex: 921428
Telephone: (617) 864-5758
COMET KOWAL (1977f)
C. T. Kowal, Hale Observatories, provides the following precise
positions, obtained at Palomar (cf. IAUC 3076):
1977 UT R. A. (1950) Decl.
May 17.20174 13 51 22.85 -12 10 28.8
19.18368 13 50 36.15 -12 07 19.5
The following orbital elements, by the undersigned, are
presumably preferable to those on IAUC 3076. Changes to the ephemeris
given there are: May 17, dR.A. = +0m.01, dDecl. = -0'.1; June 6, -0m.22,
+1'.3; June 26, -0m.93, +5'.2; July 16, -2m.17, +11'.8.
T = 1977 Feb. 5.58 ET
Peri. = 176.18 e = 0.2399
Node = 28.42 1950.0 a = 6.1195 AU
Incl. = 4.34 n = 0.06511
q = 4.6511 AU P = 15.1 years
PERIODIC COMET COMAS SOLA
The following ephemeris is from Handb. Br. Astron. Assoc. for
1977 with an extension into 1978:
For dT = +1d
1977/78 ET R. A. (1950) Decl. Delta r dR.A. dDecl. m2
July 16 0 39.75 -10 54.8 3.449 3.880 -0m50 - 4'2 21.1
26 0 41.83 -11 14.3 -0.53 - 4.4
Aug. 5 0 42.33 -11 43.9 3.095 3.777 -0.57 - 4.6 20.7
15 0 41.11 -12 22.8 -0.60 - 4.8
25 0 38.09 -13 09.0 2.801 3.671 -0.63 - 5.0 20.4
Sept. 4 0 33.33 -13 59.5 -0.66 - 5.1
14 0 27.03 -14 50.1 2.597 3.564 -0.67 - 5.0 20.1
24 0 19.61 -15 35.8 -0.68 - 5.0
Oct. 4 0 11.65 -16 11.5 2.504 3.456 -0.68 - 4.8 19.9
14 0 03.85 -16 33.0 -0.66 - 4.6
24 23 56.91 -16 37.5 2.522 3.345 -0.64 - 4.5 19.8
Nov. 3 23 51.43 -16 24.3 -0.61 - 4.3
13 23 47.81 -15 53.8 2.626 3.234 -0.58 - 4.2 19.7
23 23 46.31 -15 07.6 -0.55 - 4.2
Dec. 3 23 46.95 -14 07.7 2.783 3.121 -0.53 - 4.2 19.7
13 23 49.68 -12 56.0 -0.51 - 4.2
23 23 54.35 -11 34.2 2.956 3.008 -0.50 - 4.3 19.6
Jan. 2 0 00.77 -10 03.8 -0.49 - 4.4
12 0 08.77 - 8 26.1 3.117 2.894 -0.49 - 4.6 19.6
22 0 18.19 - 6 42.2 -0.49 - 4.8
Feb. 1 0 28.85 - 4 52.9 3.249 2.780 -0.50 - 5.0 19.5
11 0 40.65 - 2 59.1 -0.51 - 5.2
21 0 53.49 - 1 01.5 3.338 2.668 -0.53 - 5.4 19.4
m2 = 12.5 + 5 log Delta + 10 log r
OCCULTATION BY URANUS ON 1977 AUGUST 26
P. Shelus and F. Benedict, Department of Astronomy, University
of Texas at Austin, inform us that there will be a near-central
occultation of a faint blue star (magnitude ~ 13.5-14, spectral type
A5) by Uranus on Aug. 26. The star's position, derived from a
glass copy of the Palomar Sky Survey, is R.A. = 14h23m07s.02, Decl. =
-13o47'36".5 (equinox 1950.0). Computations by the undersigned
indicate that the minimum geocentric separation of the centers of the
star and Uranus will be 0".6 at 2h18m.4 UT and that the semiduration
of the occultation will be 21m.3. Local circumstances for the mid-times
of the occultations by the eastern and western sides of the epsilon
ring are given below. The absolute times are uncertain by several
minutes, but relative times should be reasonably correct.
UT UT UT UT
Fort Davis 1h48m6 2h55m1 La Serena 1h50m6 2h58m3
Williams Bay 1 48.8 2 54.8 Caracas 1 50.9 --
Washington 1 49.4 -- La Plata 1 50.5 --
OCCULTATION OF SAO 99401 BY (2) PALLAS ON 1977 JULY 8
Computations by G. E. Taylor, H.M. Nautical Almanac Office;
and by D. W. Dunham, Computer Sciences Corporation, show that the
occultation of SAO 99401 (magnitude 8.3, spectral type K0) will be
observable under favorable conditions in a 600-km-wide track that
crosses the eastern coast of Brazil soon after July 8d21h40m UT.
The nominal path is near Salvador, but changes of 0".5 in the relative
positions of star and planet could shift it to Rio de Janeiro
or to Natal. A central occultation will last for 16 seconds.
MXB1730-335
W. H. G. Lewin and J. A. Hoffman, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, report that they followed MXB1730-335 for one hour near
May 24d11h UT with the SAS-3 Observatory. No bursts were observed,
so it seems that the rapid burster has turned off (cf. IAUC 3075).
1977 May 31 (3079) Brian G. Marsden
Read IAUC 3080
Our Web policy. Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.
