THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 77 1987 Oct 24 14.22UT. Telecom Gold 72:MAG60138 Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16, Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4PP, England. Telephone:(0256)471074.Int:+44256471074 Telex:265871(MONREF G) Quote"72:MAG60138 ATT G.HURST"in FIRST line. ------------------------------------------------------------------- COMET MCNAUGHT (1987b1) The comet referred to on E-76 has been confirmed and we congratulate Rob McNaught of our e-mail group on this success. Dan Green, Central Bureau, has published the following orbital elements: T = 1987 Dec 11.977 ET Peri= 17.900) Node= 260.790) 1950.0 q = 0.83536 AU Incl= 97.049) IAUC 4475 Ephemeris: 1987 ET RA (1950) DEC (1950) Earth Sun m1 Oct 24 14h49.70m -48 53.8' 1.807 1.218 8.6 26 14 58.61 -47 43.5 28 15 07.12 -46 31.5 1.812 1.169 8.5 30 15 15.25 -45 17.9 Nov 1 15 23.03 -44 02.9 1.818 1.122 8.3 3 15 30.47 -42 46.6 5 15 37.59 -41 29.2 1.825 1.077 8.1 IAUC 4475 COMET MUELLER (1987a1) Due to our telex error, the magnitude was incorrectly given as m1=11 on E-76 and the discovery value for m1 should read 17. No orbital elements are available but Keitch and Hurst both report negative results from searches. COMET SHOEMAKER-HOLT (1987z) The correct designation for this comet is 1987z as suggested on E-75. Other than the positions on E-75 no precise positions are available. The discovery was made with the 0.46-m Schmidt at Palomar. Guy M Hurst