fred (09/07/82)
Comet Austin is still on course but has dimmed to about magnitude 6.2. I observed it on Sept 4 about 9 pm EST. For those who wish to search for it this week it will be within a few degrees of the star Beta Canes Venatici which is sometimes known as Chara. It will be hard to see with field glasses unless you have a observing sight well away from city lights. For people who have been bitten by the comet bug another comet, comet D'arrest, will pass within a degree of M-9 the evening of sept 7th. It however is only 10th or 11th magnitude at this time. It should brighten through the month of September.
koolish@BBNCD.ARPA (07/18/84)
From: Dick Koolish <koolish@BBNCD.ARPA>
NEW COMET AUSTIN, 1984i
Orbital elements have now been calculated by Brian G. Marsden
of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. As announced on
IAU Circular 3958, they show Comet Austin is in a retrograde
orbit and will reach perhelion in mid-August inside the orbit of
Mercury. Marsden's 1950.0 elements are as follows:
T 1984 Aug 12.13
q 0.2912
Arg. peri. 352.83
Asc. node 170.57
i 164.11
Comet Austin is currently visible only from the Southern
Hemisphere. By late August, it will emerge from the Sun's glare
and become accessible to northern observers with binoculars or
small telescopes. It will then be low in the eastern predawn
sky, near the Sickle of Leo, and shining with a visual magnitude
of perhaps 7 or 8. As the comet moves slowly northeastward it
will climb higher, fading to magnitude 10 or 11 by the end of
September when it lies near Castor and Pollux.
COMET AUSTIN (1950 Coordinates)
1984 R.A. Dec Mag Op Lat Tail PA
JUL 19.0 9 17.2 -12 10 +6.8 59 S 148
JUL 24.0 9 50.7 -4 30 +6.8 46 S 136
JUL 29.0 10 05.9 +0 29 +6.5 40 S 130
AUG 3.0 10 10.8 +4 30 +6.0 36 S 126
AUG 8.0 10 07.0 +8 28 +5.3 ---- 121
AUG 13.0 9 55.2 +12 42 +5.2 ---- 110
AUG 18.0 9 39.6 +16 41 +6.0 ---- 328
AUG 23.0 9 25.0 +20 00 +7.1 ---- 308
AUG 28.0 9 12.3 +22 48 +8.1 32 N 304
SEP 2.0 9 00.7 +25.19 +8.8 33 N 301
SEP 7.0 8 49.5 +27 45 +9.4 34 N 298
SEP 12.0 8 37.7 +30 12 +9.9 35 N 296
SEP 17.0 8 24.5 +32 47 +10.2 36 N 294
SEP 22.0 8 08.9 +35 33 +10.5 38 N 291
SEP 27.0 7 49.6 +38 33 +10.8 40 N 287
OCT 2.0 7 24.8 +41 44 +11.0 42 N 282
OCT 7.0 6 52.4 +44 54 +11.1 44 N 274