Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams

Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams -- Image credits

IAUC 3496: Sats OF SATURN; AM Her

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 3495  SEARCH Read IAUC 3497
IAUC number


                                                  Circular No. 3496
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


SATELLITES OF SATURN
     The Space Telescope Wide Field/Planetary Camera Instrument
Definition Team reports the following observations of new satellites
of Saturn, made at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff
with the 1.5-m astrometric reflector, using a 500 x 500-pixel CCD
system developed by the ST/WFC Team for ground-based use.  This is
a preliminary and incomplete list of measures of the positions of
the images.  The accuracy of the separations east (+) or west (-)
of the center of Saturn (in the plane of the rings) is ~ 0".5.

1980 S 1 (= 1966 S 2?), mR ~ 14.  Mar. 13.17853 UT, -24".0; 13.18492,
   -24".3; 13.22638, -20".5 (on rings); 13.25174, -16".9 (on rings);
   14.21100, +24".5.

1980 S 3, mR ~ 15.  Mar. 9.30567 UT, -24".9; 9.30897, -24".9;
   9.30975, -25".1.

1980 S 6, mR ~ 18.  Mar. 9.39498 UT, +57".9; 9.40216, +57".6; 9.42662,
   +56".9; 10.31414, -47".0; 10.31968, -47".5; 10.32358, -47".7;
   10.34718, -49".8; 13.18171, -56".6; 13.18788, -56".9; 13.26449,
   -60".0.

1980 S 25 (probably distinct from 1980 S 6), mR ~ 18.  Mar.
   13.36949, -44".1; 13.38126, -44".6.

     H. J. Reitsema, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, informs us
that A. W. Harris and himself consider that 1980 S 9 = 1980 S 1
(= 1966 S 2?).  He adds that observations around Mar. 14 show a
very definite brightness enhancement at 2.20 +/- 0.02 radii on each
side of Saturn due to the transparency of the Encke Division.  It
is possible that 1980 S 7 and 1980 S 23 represent observations of
this phenomenon, rather than discrete Saturnian satellites.


AM HERCULIS
     G. D. Schmidt, Lick Observatory; H. S. Stockman, Steward
Observatory; and B. Margon, University of Callfbrnla at Los Angeles,
write: "We have obtained spectropolarimetric and spectrophotometric
observations of AM Her (cf. IAUC 3490) with the ITS on the 3-m
Shane reflector at the Lick Observatory.  The data, obtained over
several orbital periods during July 18-20, show circularly polarized
Zeeman-shifted photospheric absorption features of hydrogen
in a magnetic field of strength 14-18 MG.  Previous indirect
estimates of the field strength have been in excess of 100 MG."


1980 July 31                   (3496)              Brian G. Marsden

Read IAUC 3495  SEARCH Read IAUC 3497


Our Web policy. Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.


Valid HTML 4.01!