Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 3187: VV Pup; ROMAN NUMERAL DESIGNATIONS OF COMETS IN 1976; 1977o; P/HOLMES
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Circular No. 3187
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Cable Address: SATELLITES, NEWYORK Telex: 921428
Telephone: (617) 864-5758
VV PUPPIS
H. S. Stockman and J. R. P. Angel, Steward Observatory, report
a dramatic brightening in the magnetic variable VV Pup. Following
an extended period of low activity (mv >~ 17.5) that began in Apr.
1977 (cf. IAUC 3065) the star was observed on 1978 Mar. 4.2 UT at
mv = 15.1 and mv = 15.8 during its bright and faint phases, respectively.
Strong circular polarization, previously reported by Tapia
(IAUC 3054), is now seen throughout the 100-min orbital period and
changes sign simultaneously with the photometric variations.
Stockman and Angel expect that, with the general brightening,
strong H and He emission should again be present in the optical
spectrum. VV Pup is now optically as bright as has been observed
in recent years and may show detectable x-ray emission.
ROMAN NUMERAL DESIGNATIONS OF COMETS IN 1976
Comet T Name Year/letter Ref.
1976 I Jan. 3.9 Sato 1975q * 19, **
II Jan. 25.3 P/Wolf 1975f * 19, **
III Feb. 10.8 P/Gunn - IAUC 3057
IV Feb. 24.6 Bradfield 1976a * 19, **
V Feb. 25.1 Bradfield 1976d * 19, **
VI Feb. 25.2 West 1975n IAUC 3030
VII Apr. 7.3 P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 1975i * 19, **
VIII Apr. 21.7 P/Harrington-Abell 1975l * 19, **
IX July 6.4 Lovas 1976k * 19, **
X Aug. 10.2 P/Klemola 1976j * 19, **
XI Aug. 12.9 P/d'Arrest 1976e * 19, **
XII Oct. 31.6 Lovas 1977c IAUC 3106
XIII Nov. 3.2 Harlan 1976g IAUC 3036
XIV Nov. 28.7 P/Pons-Winnecke 1976f * 19, **
* Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. ** In press.
PERIODIC COMET SCHUSTER (1977o)
The following precise positions have been reported:
1977/78 UT R. A. (1950) Decl. m1 Observer
Dec. 3.43194 23 42 17.68 -15 25 21.9 16 Furuta
3.44236 23 42 18.19 -15 25 05.0 "
Jan. 8.04997 0 36 32.72 + 1 38 52.5 West
T. Furuta (Tokai). From Orient. Astron. Assoc. Comet Bull. No.
158; time of first observation changed from Dec. 3.34194.
R. M. West (European Southern Observatory). 100-cm Schmidt telescope.
Comet image very diffuse.
PERIODIC COMET HOLMES
The following prediction, by B. G. Marsden, is from a fit to
26 observations made during 1964-1965 and 1971-1973. Perturbations
by all nine planets were taken into account.
T = 1979 Feb. 22.6598 ET Epoch = 1979 Feb. 16.0 ET
Peri. = 23.6005 e = 0.413115
Node = 327.3804 1950.0 a = 3.680452 AU
Incl. = 19.2046 n = 0.1395894
q = 2.160003 AU P = 7.061 years
For dT = +1d
1978/79 ET R. A. (1950) Decl. Delta r dR.A. dDecl. m2
Apr. 22 19 08.88 -43 04.9 2.571 3.016 -1m23 - 4'7 20.8
May 2 19 14.82 -43 40.5 -1.33 - 5.3
12 19 18.10 -44 18.6 2.264 2.935 -1.45 - 5.7 20.5
22 19 18.37 -44 57.1 -1.57 - 6.0
June 1 19 15.39 -45 32.6 2.008 2.854 -1.70 - 6.0 20.1
11 19 09.11 -45 59.5 -1.81 - 5.8
21 18 59.93 -46 11.0 1.827 2.775 -1.90 - 5.4 19.7
July 1 18 48.75 -46 01.0 -1.94 - 4.7
11 18 36.91 -45 25.2 1.739 2.697 -1.93 - 4.1 19.5
21 18 25.99 -44 23.8 -1.87 - 3.5
31 18 17.32 -43 01.0 1.748 2.621 -1.78 - 3.2 19.4
Aug. 10 18 11.83 -41 23.4 -1.66 - 3.1
20 18 09.92 -39 38.3 1.839 2.548 -1.54 - 3.3 19.4
30 18 11.53 -37 51.0 -1.44 - 3.6
Sept. 9 18 16.41 -36 05.1 1.984 2.478 -1.34 - 4.1 19.4
19 18 24.18 -34 22.0 -1.26 - 4.6
29 18 34.41 -32 41.4 2.158 2.413 -1.19 - 5.1 19.5
Oct. 9 18 46.73 -31 02.5 -1.12 - 5.6
19 19 00.76 -29 23.6 2.340 2.354 -1.07 - 6.2 19.6
29 19 16.18 -27 43.1 -1.03 - 6.7
Nov. 8 19 32.74 -25 59.4 2.518 2.301 -0.98 - 7.1 19.6
18 19 50.17 -24 11.2 -0.95 - 7.6
28 20 08.27 -22 17.3 2.680 2.255 -0.92 - 8.0 19.7
Dec. 8 20 26.88 -20 16.8 -0.89 - 8.4
18 20 45.83 -18 09.5 2.822 2.217 -0.86 - 8.8 19.7
28 21 05.03 -15 55.0 -0.84 - 9.1
Jan. 7 21 24.36 -13 33.5 2.939 2.188 -0.82 - 9.4 19.7
m2 = 14.0 + 5 log Delta + 10 log r
1978 March 9 (3187) Brian G. Marsden
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