Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 4209: 1986d; 1982i; VY Aqr
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Circular No. 4209
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 617-495-7244/7440/7444
COMET SINGER BREWSTER (1986d)
A comet has been discovered by Stephen Singer-Brewster on two
films exposed by D. Schneeberger, E. Burr and himself with the
0.46-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar in the course of the
International Near-Earth Asteroid Survey under the direction of E. F.
Helin. The comet was subsequently identified on an exposure
obtained the following night by C. S. and E. M. Shoemaker with the
same telescope. The object is diffuse and only slightly
condensed, maybe with a faint tail to the northeast on May 4.
1986 UT R.A. (1950.0) Decl. m1 Observer
May 3.4 14 50.1 - 6 34 15 Singer-Brewster
4.32777 14 49.8 - 6 17 Shoemaker
PERIODIC COMET HALLEY (1982i)
Several observers have remarked on further tail disconnection
events, particularly during Mar. 9-16 and Apr. 10-11. Further to
the note on IAUC 4205, naked-eye tail-length estimates by G.
Thompson and R. Bouma in Queensland showed a general increase from
almost 15 deg on Apr. 13 to 25 deg on Apr. 19 and possibly 35 deg during
the Apr. 24 total lunar eclipse, when T. Lovejoy reported a 43 deg
tail. Exposures by G. Emerson with a 0.30-m f/1.8 Schmidt telescope
near Boulder, CO, during Apr. 30-May 2 showed a 20' antitail
and two 3 deg dust tails over a 10 deg range of position angle. Further
selected total visual magnitude estimates (naked eye unless otherwise
stated): Apr. 17.06 UT, 2.5 (V. F. de Assis Neto, Sao Francisco
de Oliveira, Brazil); 19.18, 2.7 (de Assis Neto); 21.35, 3.4
(D. W. E. Green, Queenstown, N.Z.); 24.53, 3.6 (Green, near Lake
Tekapo, N.Z.; during total lunar eclipse); 25.82, 4.3 (R. Fleet,
Harare, Zimbabwe; moonlight); 27.86, 4.9 (G. M. Hurst, Basingstoke,
England, 10 x 50 binoculars; low altitude); 29.81, 4.4
(Fleet, Pretoria, R.S.A.); May 3.12, 4.6 (Green, Harvard, MA).
VY AQUARII
S. Lubbock, Bridge End, Wales; and R. H. McNaught, Coonabarabran,
N.S.W., have reported (apparently independently) an outburst
of this presumed dwarf nova (cf. IAUC 3896, etc.): Apr. 27.80 UT,
[14.1 (McNaught); May 1.14, 11.7 (Lubbock); 3.82, 10.8 (McNaught);
4.66, 10.7 (McNaught).
1986 May 5 (4209) Brian G. Marsden
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