fred (08/19/82)
Last night August 18, 1982 Comet Austin was observed at the Mendenhall-Romano observatory which is located at 39 deg 57 min North Lat and 86 deg 12 min Long. ( Indianapolis) The comet's Magnitude was estimated at 5.2 The comet's position: R.A 10h 24m Dec. 40d 54m this position measured at 9:25P.M. EST The comet angular size was estimated at 3 min. The comet is near the stars lambda and mu Ursa Major. It was first picked up at 8:30 EST and can be "just seen" in 7x 50 bin. The view improves with objective aperture and is quiet splendid in a 8 inch telescope. The following people made these observations. Larry Marcus BTL-IN Ralph Keyser BTL-IN Ron Meyer BTL-INH (IAS) Fred Mendenhall- BTL-INH (IAS)
fred (08/20/82)
August 19, 1982 9:30 EST Comet Austin position R.H. 10h 35m Dec +42D 30m For observers who don't have high quality star charts on Friday night look for Austin near the star Omega U.Major and Saturday night look for Austin in the region between Omega and Psi U. Major. It should be easy to find this weekend. Fred