Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 6274: 73P; GRS 1915+105; 45P
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Circular No. 6274
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)
COMET 73P/SCHWASSMANN-WACHMANN 3
H. Bohnhardt, Universitats Sternwarte Munchen, and H. U. Kaufl,
European Southern Observatory (ESO), report on simultaneous
observations of comet 73P made at the ESO, La Silla, with the 3.6-m
telescope (+ TIMMI, mid-infrared focal reducer) and the New
Technology Telescope (+EMMI, visual focal reducer) on Dec. 12-13:
"On-line inspection of the R and N2 (9.14-10.4 microns) filter
images revealed at least four separate brightness peaks in the coma;
the two brightest ones, detected in both the visual and infrared,
are almost aligned with the position angle of the extended radius
vector of the comet (about 78 deg). The separation was 4".4 on Dec.
12. A third weaker peak appeared -- in the R filter only -- at p.a.
about 70 deg, just 1".5 tailward of the sunward peak. The fourth
peak was found in the N2 filter images only at p.a. about 180 deg,
about 2".5 from the tailward peak. A day-to-day variability of the
two brightest sources was found in R. The N2 flux of the tailward
peak was 236 mJy on Dec. 12 (measured 2".5 x 2".5). The surface
integrated flux at N2 is 2.8 Jy (isophotes could be detected to a
level of 1 mJy/arcsecE2). The R images also show a remarkable (at
least 6') coma extension into the solar direction, while the dust
tail is seen almost edge on. Our observations of the four
brightness peaks in the coma suggest that the major outburst of the
comet reported in September may have been related to the splitting
of the nucleus of the comet."
Total visual magnitude estimates: Nov. 16.07 UT, 7.0 (R. Keen,
Mt. Thorodin, CO, 7x50 binoculars); 21.42, 7.5 (P. Camilleri,
Cobram, Vic., Australia, 0.20-m reflector); 26.78, 8.1 (J. Carvajal,
Madrid, Spain, 0.44-m reflector); Dec. 10.10, 8.5 (A. Hale,
Cloudcroft, NM, 10x50 binoculars).
GRS 1915+105
S. Sazonov and R. Sunyaev, Space Research Institute, Moscow,
on behalf of the Granat/WATCH team, report: "GRS 1915+105
continues to be extremely active. During the current long-term
outburst, which started in July (IAUC 6196), the 8- to 20-keV flux
has been generally at a high level of 500-800 mCrab."
COMET 45P/HONDA-MRKOS-PAJDUSAKOVA
Total visual magnitude estimate (cf. IAUC 6264) by A. Hale,
Cloudcroft, NM: Dec. 10.07 UT, 8.7 (10x50 binoculars).
1995 December 13 (6274) Daniel W. E. Green
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