Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 6204: SATURN; 19P; GRS 1915+105
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Circular No. 6204
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
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)
Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)
SATURN
S. J. O'Meara, Sky & Telescope, reports that visual observa-
tions by W. Sheehan, D. Graham, T. Dobbins, and himself with the
Lick Observatory 0.91-m refractor show two white spots in the
northern region of the equatorial zone. The larger, low-contrast
spot of diameter about 4" transited the planet at Aug. 10.375 UT
(corresponding to system-I longitude 333 deg). The smaller spot of
diameter about 2" transited at Aug. 10.444 (longitude 31 deg).
Observations made about 12 hr prior to crossing the ring plane on
Aug. 10.5 showed the rings still visible to a distance from the
planet of one Saturn diameter.
COMET 19P/BORRELLY
P. Lamy, Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale, Marseille, and his
team report: "Using the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 of the Hubble
Space Telescope, we have detected a highly elongated nucleus rotat-
ing with a synodic period of 24.7 hr. The prolate spheroid that
gives the best fit to the nuclear-magnitude light curve has major
and minor axes dimensions of 8.3 and 3.3 km, respectively, assuming
a geometric albedo of 4 percent. We estimate that about 10 percent
of the surface area is active."
GRS 1915+105
B. A. Harmon, W. S. Paciesas, and G. J. Fishman, Marshall
Space Flight Center, NASA, report, for the Compton Observatory
BATSE Team: "The 20- to 100-keV hard-x-ray flux from GRS 1915+105,
measured by BATSE, has been increasing gradually since late July.
The source showed variability on a 1-day timescale; the average
flux was about 150 mCrab for Aug. 5-8. This sustained level of
activity is comparable to that seen in 1995 Jan.-Feb."
F. D. Ghigo, National Radio Astronomy Observatory; and E. B.
Waltman and R. S. Foster, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), write:
"The NRL-Green Bank Interferometer Monitoring Program has detected
a radio flare in the galactic superluminal jet source 1915+105.
Flux densities reached 750 mJy at 2 GHz and 400 mJy at 8 GHz at
Aug. 10.04 UT, remained at this level through Aug. 10.21, and
declined to 400 mJy (2 GHz) and 125 mJy (8 GHz) at Aug. 10.98."
1995 August 11 (6204) Daniel W. E. Green
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