Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 4793: 1989m; WX Cet; V404 Cyg
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 4794
Circular No. 4793
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Telephone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)
TWX 710-320-6842 ASTROGRAM CAM EASYLINK 62794505
MARSDEN or GREEN@CFA.BITNET MARSDEN or GREEN@CFAPS2.SPAN
COMET 1989m (SMM 8)
O. C. St. Cyr, High Altitude Observatory, reports the discovery
by D. L. Kobe and himself of another probable sungrazing comet during
routine inspection of the Solar Maximum Mission coronagraph images.
As for SMM 5, SMM 6 and SMM 7, measurements of the comet's position
were made by A. Stanger, High Altitude Observatory, and the reduction
was made by D. Pitone and B. Twambly of the SMM Flight Dynamics Facility
at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
1989 UT R.A. (1950) Decl.
June 2.40347 4 36 22 +21 22.2
2.41528 4 36 22 +21 24.6
2.42083 4 36 22 +21 25.8
2.46806 4 36 34 +21 39.0
2.47917 4 36 36 +21 42.0
2.48472 4 36 38 +21 44.4
SMM8 is a faint object, perhaps comparable to SMM 1 and SMM 3, at
about mag 0. The measurements refer to the positions of the 'head',
i.e., the sunward end of the bright cometary tail. The radial
distance measurements are believed to be accurate to +/- 0.1 solar
radius and the p.a. to +/- 1 deg. Another image on June 2.533 UT
showed only the comet's tail, as the head disappeared under one of the
instrument's electronic artifacts. That was the last detection of the
comet, although observations continued until June 2.625 UT. The
following parabolic orbital elements, determined by the undersigned on
the assumption that the comet has the same perihelion direction as the
other Kreutz sungrazers, satisfy the above positions within better
than 1': T = 1989 June 2.578 ET, Peri. = 84.72, Node = 5.54, Incl. =
144.63 (equinox 1950.0), q = 0.00557 AU.
WX CETI
Visual magnitude estimates: May 31.1 UT, 13.3 (D. Overbeek,
Edenvale, South Africa; unconfirmed at the time); June 6.08, 11.0
(Overbeek); 6.87, 11.7 (A. Pearce, Perth, Western Australia).
V404 CYGNI
Visual magnitudes: June 2.00 UT, 14.2 (P. Schmeer,
Bischmisheim, W. Germany); 3.22, 13.5 (J. E. Bortle, Stormville,
NY); 5.14, 13.5 (Bortle).
1989 June 7 (4793) Brian G. Marsden
Read IAUC 4794
Our Web policy. Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.
