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IAUC 6821: COMET P/1998 B1 (SHOEMAKER-LEVY 8); 55P

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                                                  Circular No. 6821
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, 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)
URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html
Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)


COMET P/1998 B1 (SHOEMAKER-LEVY 8)
     C. W. Hergenrother has recovered comet P/1992 G2 (= 1992f =
1992 XV) on images obtained with the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory's 1.2-m reflector at Mt. Hopkins on Jan. 22.  He confirmed
the recovery on images obtained with the Lunar and Planetary
Laboratory's 1.5-m reflector at the Catalina Station on Jan. 28, when
there was a moderately diffuse 5" coma but no tail on a 900-s exposure.

     1998 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.        m1
     Jan. 22.23128    7 28 13.12   +14 00 30.7   21.8
          22.23514    7 28 13.05   +14 00 30.7   21.7
          22.23898    7 28 12.92   +14 00 30.5   22.0
          28.34848    7 24 02.92   +14 11 32.2
          28.37097    7 24 02.00   +14 11 35.3   22.6

Hergenrother's measurements above show that the prediction by the
undersigned on MPC 27082 (ephemeris on MPC 30702) requires correction by
Delta T = +0.03 day.  The following improved orbital elements represent 76
observations 1992-1998 with mean residual 0".8:

                    Epoch = 1999 Dec.  8.0 TT
     T = 1999 Dec. 10.5994 TT         Peri. =  22.5940
     e = 0.289451                     Node  = 213.3174  2000.0
     q = 2.721257 AU                  Incl. =   6.0505
       a =  3.829792 AU    n = 0.1315047    P =   7.495 years


COMETS 55P/TEMPEL-TUTTLE AND 103P/HARTLEY 2
     M. Fomenkova, J. Sarmecanic and M. Wang, University of California at
San Diego, report the following infrared magnitudes (uncertainties
0.20-0.25 mag), obtained on Jan. 24 with the 1.5-m telescope on Mt. Lemmon
(+ UCSD mid-infrared camera + 20" circular aperture):
comet 55P, [8.7 microns] = 2.7, [10.3 microns] = 1.5,
[11.7 microns] = 1.5, [12.5 microns] = 1.3; comet 103P, [10.3
microns] = 1.6, [11.7 microns] = 1.3, [12.5 microns] = 0.9.  The
magnitudes of 55P indicate a possible silicate excess of 0.4 mag
and yield a color temperature of 300 +/- 15 K, which is 15
percent higher than the blackbody temperature of 263 K at r = 1.13 AU.
There was no evidence of excess silicate emission in the case of 103P.

                      (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT
1998 February 9                (6821)              Brian G. Marsden

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