Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 4866: 1989u; EXO 032957-2606.9
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 4867
Circular No. 4866
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
PERIODIC COMET KEARNS-KWEE (1989u)
J. Gibson, OAO Corporation and Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
reports his recovery of this comet with the 1.5-m reflector (+ CCD +
Gunn r filter) at Palomar. There is a stellar nucleus and a possible
faint coma a few arcsec in diameter. The observations indicate a
correction of Delta(T) = +0.07 day to the prediction on MPC 12123
(ephemeris on MPC 14488):
1989 UT R.A. (1950) Decl. m1
Sept.10.29145 22 35 09.43 - 3 02 10.4 19.9
10.29714 22 35 09.20 - 3 02 10.8
10.30361 22 35 08.94 - 3 02 12.2
10.31065 22 35 08.59 - 3 02 13.2
11.28252 22 34 27.19 - 3 05 00.7
11.29390 22 34 26.70 - 3 05 02.7
11.30571 22 34 26.22 - 3 05 04.9
11.31321 22 34 25.85 - 3 05 07.0
EXO 032957-2606.9
G. Schmidt and J. Norsworthy, Steward Observatory, University of
Arizona, communicate: "Optical circular polarimetry with the Steward
Observatory 2.3-m telescope confirm the x-ray source EXO 032957-2606.9
(IAUC 4671; Beuermann et al. 1989, A.Ap. 219, L7) as a member of the
AM-Her class of magnetic accretion binaries. Observations spanning a
3-hr interval on Sept. 21 UT revealed white-light (320-860 nm) circular
polarization ranging in magnitude from -4 to -10 percent. The fact
that polarization of a constant sign was present for such a large
fraction of the 228-min spectroscopic (orbital?) period supports the
suggestion of Beuermann et al. that this is a low-inclination system
in which one accretion region is continuously in view. The lack of
obvious fiducials in the circular polarization curve presents
difficulties for analyzing the degree of spin/orbit synchronism in
this longest-period AM-Her system. If, however, the colatitude of
the accretion region is sufficiently large, linear polarization might
also be continuously present, in which case the position angle will
track the rotation of the magnetic primary. Such observations are
encouraged when the system returns from its current level of
faintness (V = 19.2 +/- 0.2 mag at the time of our observations)."
1989 September 27 (4866) Daniel W. E. Green
Read IAUC 4867
Our Web policy. Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.
