Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 5301: 1986 VIII
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Read IAUC 5302
Circular No. 5301
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 MACHHOLZ (1986 VIII)
A. C. Gilmore and P. M. Kilmartin report the following precise
positions, obtained with the 0.6-m reflector at the Mount John
University Observatory. Although all the films were taken at high
air mass (2.5 to 4) and are heavily fogged by moonlight and/or twilight,
there seems to be fairly good evidence of a sharp increase in the
comet's activity between July 4.8 and 5.8 UT; on the latter occasion
the comet had a faint, narrow tail 30" long in p.a. 207 +/- 5 deg.
1991 UT R.A. (1950) Decl. m2
July 3.76459 5 30 18.55 -10 19 58.2 16
3.77640 5 30 23.61 -10 18 59.4
4.75765 5 37 26.74 - 8 54 05.0 16
4.76633 5 37 30.32 - 8 53 21.3
4.77895 5 37 35.89 - 8 52 14.0
5.76390 5 44 36.97 - 7 25 34.9 14
5.77189 5 44 40.38 - 7 24 53.6
The orbital elements on MPC 14748 require correction by delta T =
-0.03 day. The elements below, by the undersigned, satisfy 93
observations in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 with a mean residual
of 1".0. Predicted magnitudes are from the ICQ Handbook.
Epoch = 1991 July 3.0 ET
T = 1991 July 21.9824 ET Peri. = 14.5287
e = 0.958370 Node = 93.8227 1950.0
q = 0.125545 AU Incl. = 60.1472
a = 3.015711 AU n = 0.1881999 P = 5.237 years
1991 ET R.A. (1950) Decl. Delta r m1
July 9 6 07.28 - 2 31.3 0.942 0.498 9.2
10 6 14.19 - 0 57.2
11 6 21.08 + 0 38.4 0.964 0.440 8.6
12 6 27.97 + 2 15.8
13 6 34.88 + 3 55.1 0.992 0.380 7.9
14 6 41.86 + 5 37.0
15 6 48.95 + 7 21.7 1.024 0.316 7.1
16 6 56.22 + 9 10.3
17 7 03.78 +11 03.6 1.060 0.251 5.9
1991 July 9 (5301) Brian G. Marsden
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