THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 450 1990 Oct 03 20.10UT Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4PP, England. Telephone: (0256)471074 Int:+44256471074 Telex: 94082518 Answerback: TAGUY Microlink: MAG60138 JANET:GMH @ UK.AC.CAM.ASTRONOMY.STARLINK GUYH@UK.AC.SUSSEX.CLUSTER TELECOM GOLD: 10074:MIK2885 PRESTEL 256471074 -------------------------------------------------------------------- SATURN Further to the report on E449, Mark Kidger, Tenerife, tells us that he first observed the white spot on 1990 Sept 29.8333UT when it was seen in the 0.08-m finder of the 0.51-m telescope at Teide Observatory. The spot, located in the EZ, was examined at x300 in the main telescope and was about 10-15 degrees west of the meridian. It was positioned hard against the NEB, which "wrapped" around the eastern side of the spot, causing an unusual type of plateau in the NEB which extended across a significant fraction of the disk. The spot is very bright, more intense than Ring B. He notes that the Will Hay Spot of 1933 lasted only 6 weeks and observations of the current spot: transits, evolution, intensity estimates and general behaviour, are urgently required. A later report from Mark indicates the following meridian crossings: 1990 Oct 1.951UT, 22.50UT (V.Gonzalez, F.Hernandez) 1990 Oct 1.951UT, 22.49UT (M.Kidger, J.Gonzalez) There is a suggested rotation period of 10h15m45s (+/-49s) Semi-major axis is about 17,000km. BC URSAE MAJORIS Further to the note on E442, Harold Ridley has photographed the star on 1990 Sept 17 (20.55-21.00UT) with the Zeiss Triplet Lens of 1.2-m focal length using Kodak T-Max 400 emulsion. Denis Buczynski, Conder Brow Observatory, reports the following precise position measured by him from the above photograph: RA 11h49m38.8s DEC +49 31'22.3"(1950) Guy M Hurst