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IAUC 3300: 1881 V = 1978n

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 3300
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
TWX 710-320-6842 ASTROGRAM CAM     Telephone 617-864-5758


PERIODIC COMET DENNING-FUJIKAWA (1881 V = 1978n)
     C.-Y. Shao provides the following precise positions, obtained
with the 155-cm reflector at the Harvard College Observatory's Agassiz
Station.  The comet is very diffuse, its image very weak on Oct.
28 and Nov. 1; somewhat stronger images were recorded on longer Nov.
2 and 3 exposures, and there was a tail 1'.0-1'.5 long near p.a. 300o.

     1978 UT             R. A. (1950) Decl.        m2
     Oct. 28.39100    10 13 34.78   +17 24 19.4
     Nov.  2.37655    10 15 10.63   +19 05 51.9    18

     The above positions confirm that comet 1978n is identical with
P/Denning 1 (cf. IAUC 3289), and the following orbital elements, by
B. G. Marsden, are from an approximate linkage of the 1881 and 1978
observations, perturbations by Jupiter to Pluto taken into account.

          Epoch = 1881 Aug. 28.0       1978 Oct. 19.0 ET
              T = 1881 Sept. 13.749    1978 Oct. 2.042 ET
          Peri. = 312.476              334.045
          Node  =  66.935               40.968   1950.0
          Incl. =   6.870                8.668
              q =   0.72507              0.77857 AU
              e =   0.82870              0.82017
              a =   4.23290              4.32954 AU
              n =   0.113174             0.109406
              P =   8.71                 9.01 years

The comet would have been favorably placed for observation near its
perihelion dates of 1916 Oct. 8, 1960 Sept. 14 and 1969 Sept. 23.

     1978/79 ET  R. A. (1950) Decl.     Delta     r      m2
     Nov.  8    10 17.25   +20 42.3     0.517   1.003   17.6
          18    10 19.76   +23 11.0
          28    10 18.64   +25 36.1     0.608   1.225   18.8
     Dec.  8    10 12.14   +28 10.4
          18     9 59.44   +30 50.3     0.674   1.461   19.8
          28     9 40.75   +33 20.6
     Jan.  7     9 17.79   +35 18.9     0.776   1.696   20.7
          17     8 53.83   +36 28.4
          27     8 32.28   +36 47.3     0.964   1.925   21.8

                  m2 = 19.0 + 5 log Delta + 10 log r


1978 November 6                (3300)              Brian G. Marsden

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