Circular No. 2768 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. Cable Address: SATELLITES, NEWYORK Western Union: RAPID SATELLITE CAMBMASS PERIODIC COMET PERRINE-MRKOS The prediction below, by B. G. Marsden, is from an orbit fitted to observations at the 1962 and 1968 returns, with perturbations by all nine planets taken into account. Although the prediction by R. Luss in Handb. Br. Astron. Assoc. for 1975 is very similar, the comet's past behavior suggests that a large Delta-T correction is not improbable. T = 1975 Aug. 2.8779 ET Epoch = 1975 Aug. 16.0 ET Peri. = 166.4950 e = 0.638226 Node = 239.9074 1950.0 a = 3.580887 AU Incl. = 17.8103 n = 0.1454515 q = 1.29547 AU P = 6.776 years For dT = +1d 1975 ET R. A. (1950) Decl. Delta r dR.A. dDecl. m2 May 8 0 08.87 +14 27.9 2.279 1.643 -1m65 - 5'9 20.5 18 0 38.51 +17 17.3 -1.82 - 5.4 28 1 10.21 +19 59.9 2.089 1.517 -1.99 - 4.5 19.8 June 7 1 44.13 +22 28.8 -2.15 - 3.2 17 2 20.26 +24 36.0 1.936 1.411 -2.31 - 1.3 19.2 27 2 58.36 +26 13.1 -2.42 + 1.0 July 7 3 37.98 +27 12.7 1.827 1.335 -2.49 + 3.7 18.7 17 4 18.35 +27 29.3 -2.48 + 6.5 27 4 58.54 +27 00.6 1.760 1.298 -2.41 + 9.1 18.4 Aug. 6 5 37.64 +25 48.0 -2.28 +11.3 16 6 14.86 +23 56.4 1.727 1.305 -2.11 +12.9 18.4 26 6 49.64 +21 32.5 -1.92 +13.8 Sept. 5 7 21.72 +18 44.0 1.714 1.355 -1.73 +14.1 18.6 15 7 50.96 +15 38.4 -1.56 +13.8 25 8 17.39 +12 22.4 1.706 1.441 -1.42 +13.1 19.0 Oct. 5 8 41.12 + 9 01.4 -1.30 +12.1 15 9 02.18 + 5 39.7 1.690 1.555 -1.21 +10.9 19.5 25 9 20.65 + 2 20.9 -1.14 + 9.6 Nov. 4 9 36.51 - 0 52.5 1.657 1.686 -1.10 + 8.3 20.0 14 9 49.68 - 3 58.0 -1.08 + 7.0 24 10 00.04 - 6 53.1 1.604 1.828 -1.09 + 5.8 20.5 Dec. 4 10 07.40 - 9 35.2 -1.12 + 4.7 14 10 11.50 -12 00.8 1.540 1.976 -1.18 + 3.9 20.9 m2 = 15.5 + 5 log Delta + 15 log r The total magnitude m1 could reach 15 in July or August. COMET BRADFIELD (1975d) Mr. D. Herald, Woden, near Canberra, provides the following precise positions. He remarks that the comet has a fanshaped tail and that a condensation of m2 ~ 12 was apparent after April 3. 1975 UT R. A. (1950) Decl. m1 Mar. 30.39757 2 19 09.83 -19 19 36.5 30.39931 2 19 10.28 -19 19 35.6 Apr. 3.39097 2 36 35.41 -18 26 37.1 3.39792 2 36 36.90 -18 26 33.4 4.38924 2 40 59.23 -18 12 28.0 4.39167 2 41 00.46 -18 12 28.8 6.40556 2 49 55.82 -17 42 47.2 9.0 6.40903 2 49 56.81 -17 42 48.7 The following parabolic elements, by the undersigned, are from 12 observations Mar. 13 to Apr. 6: T = 1975 Apr. 4.632 ET Peri. = 264.182 Node = 157.236 1950.0 q = 1.21632 AU Incl. = 55.262 1975 ET R. A. (1950) Decl. Delta r m1 Apr. 18 3 42.17 -14 26.6 1.838 1.234 8.7 23 4 04.74 -12 51.2 28 4 27.10 -11 11.9 1.850 1.269 8.9 May 3 4 49.07 - 9 30.7 8 5 10.53 - 7 49.9 1.898 1.322 9.1 13 5 31.37 - 6 11.3 18 5 51.50 - 4 36.8 1.979 1.388 9.4 23 6 10.85 - 3 07.7 28 6 29.39 - 1 45.0 2.088 1.466 9.8 June 2 6 47.13 - 0 29.3 7 7 04.07 + 0 39.1 2.220 1.553 10.1 12 7 20.23 + 1 40.2 17 7 35.64 + 2 34.2 2.368 1.647 10.5 22 7 50.34 + 3 21.4 27 8 04.36 + 4 02.2 2.524 1.746 10.9 m1 = 6.5 + 5 log Delta + 10 log r Mr. T. B. Tregaskis, Mount Eliza, Victoria, writes that on Mar. 22.424 UT he observed the comet at total magnitude about 9.5 (using a 32-cm reflector at 150 x). The comet was very faint, diffuse, 2' in diameter, round, with very slight condensation (less than on Mar. 13) and no tail. 1975 April 15 (2768) Brian G. Marsden
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