Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 3822: 1983e; MXB 1659-29
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Read IAUC 3823
Circular No. 3822
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 617-864-5758
COMET SUGANO-SAIGUSA-FUJIKAWA (1983e)
The following precise positions have been reported:
1983 UT R.A. (1950.0) Decl. Observer
May 13.47431 1 20 46.76 +40 26 38.7 Harlan
14.46875 1 18 08.07 +40 35 30.2 "
22.46181 0 57 46.82 +41 08 53.5 "
30.98646 0 31 14.0 +40 42 43 Geffert
31.45978 0 29 08.54 +40 38 47.9 Gibson
June 4.41701 0 05 00.43 +39 37 25.7 Everhart
E. A. Harlan (Lick Observatory). Measurer: A. R. Klemola.
M. Geffert (Hoher List Observatory). Uncertainty ~ 10" .
J. Gibson (Palomar Observatory). 1.2-m Schmidt telescope.
E. Everhart (Chamberlin Observatory field station). Comet more
condensed than on May 26 and 29.
Total visual magnitude estimates: June 1.31 UT, 9.5; (C. S.
Morris, Harvard, MA, 0.25-m reflector); 3.00, 8.8 (J.-C. Merlin,
Le Creusot, France, 0.15-m reflector); 5.02, 8.2 (Merlin).
MXB 1659-29
L. R. Cominsky, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of
California at Berkeley: and K. S. Wood, E. O. Hulburt Center for
Space Research, Naval Research Laboratory, report: "A 7.1-hr
period has been found in data obtained on MXB 1659-29 by HEAO-A1
and SAS-3 during the transient outburst in Mar. 1978. Many dips
in intensity, some of which have previously been reported (IAUC
3190: Lewin 1979, Proc. IAU/COSPAR Symp. on X-Ray Astronomy;
Cominsky, Ossman and Lewin 1983, Ap.J. in press), are seen to
occur within ~ 25 percent of the cycle. The dips are most likely
due to obscuration by turbulent matter in an accretion disk around
the neutron star. The last dip to occur within the quarter-cycle
of erratic dip activity appears to be a stable feature and may
therefore represent the stream of matter at the inner Lagrangean
point. Now that x-ray observations of MXB 1659-29 are possible
with ESOSAT and TENMA, we urge optical observers to monitor the
optical candidate (finding chart in Doxsey et al. 1978, Ap.J. 228,
L67) for signs of the next outburst. MXB 1659-29 in outburst
provides a rare opportunity to study both optical and x-ray
characteristics of an accretion disk in a low-mass x-ray binary."
1983 June 6 (3822) Brian G. Marsden
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