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IAUC 6305: (2060); RX J0117.6-7330 AND RX J0550.0-7151; C/1995 O1

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 6305
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)


(2060) CHIRON
     H. Campins writes regarding near-infrared observations with M.
Rieke, using the University of Arizona's 2.3-m reflector (+ 256x256
HgCdTe array camera NICMOS3; range 1-2.5 microns, pixel size about
0".6):  "We estimate for (2060) Chiron a 2.2-micron magnitude of K
= 14.24 +/- 0.05 within a 3".5-diameter aperture at about Feb. 8.35
UT (about 6 days before perihelion).  It is remarkable that no coma
is apparent in our images; a preliminary reduction indicates that
the radial profiles of the Chiron images do not differ from those
of two nearby stars of similar magnitude.  Any coma, if present, is
at most a few percent the brightness of the nucleus.  We are in the
process of obtaining a rotational lightcurve of the nucleus."


RX J0117.6-7330 AND RX J0550.0-7151
     P. A. Charles and K. A. Southwell, Oxford University; and D.
O'Donoghue, University of Cape Town, report: "We observed the 14th-
magnitude star close to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) x-ray nova
RX J0117.6-7330 (IAUC 6282) with the Anglo-Australian Telescope
(AAT) on Jan. 18 UT and monitored it with the South African
Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) 1.9-m telescope from Jan. 24 to 28.
The AAT spectrum revealed strong, narrow (250 km/s) Balmer emission
(H-alpha, EW = 1.3 nm; H-beta, EW = 0.13 nm) superposed on a blue
continuum with weak He I and C III/N III absorption, supporting its
identification as the optical counterpart.  With a magnitude of V =
14.2, we derive Mv = -4.6, which is consistent with a massive OB
star in the SMC.  No photometric variations greater than 0.05 mag
were seen during the SAAO run.
     "Our AAT spectra of the red star close to the LMC supersoft
source RX J0550.0-7151 (IAUC 6278) reveal strong, narrow (160 km/s)
Balmer emission superposed on the spectrum of a cool star, thus
confirming its symbiotic nature."


COMET C/1995 O1 (HALE-BOPP)
     Total visual magnitude estimate (cf. IAUC 6273) by T. Lovejoy,
Jimboomba, Queensland, Australia (0.25-m reflector):  Feb. 2.75 UT,
8.8 (coma diameter 4'; 8' tail).

                      (C) Copyright 1996 CBAT
1996 February 8                (6305)            Daniel W. E. Green

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