92- 8B / Comet
Jim Varney (jvarney@mail2.quiknet.com)
Sat, 23 Mar 1996 09:11:33 +0000
Kurt Jonckheere wrote:
>92- 8 B = 21876
>In January 1996 it had a jump in Mean Motion but wasn't visible.
>Last week it became visible again.
>Jan Vansteelandt just reported me an observation of last Thursday:
>92- 8 B 96-03-14 21:06 JVS 186.8 0.8 20 9.34
>
>So this object has certainly accelerated. Is it still going down??
92 -8B (Cosmos 1280 RB) passed over my zenith last night. I made
this observation
92- 8 B 96-03-23 04:12 JEV 92.7 0.3 10 9.27 AA, 4->inv
The difference is observed periods is too small to conclude the object
is still accelerating -- it's probably holding steady at ~ 9.3 sec.
Quite an acceleration! I last saw it August 28, 1995, with a period of
17.4 seconds. Kurt and WV saw it at the end of December at 18.8 sec and
19.0 sec, respectively.
Comet Hyakutake -- I took advantage of good sky transparency following
a small cold front to see the comet at about 0120 local time on the
23rd. Near the zenith, the head of the comet was brilliant and very
eye-catching; even in light pollution, the tail could be followed to
the west with averted vision for 10-15 degrees. Incredible sight!
Good Passes,
Jim
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Varney | 121^ 23' 54" W, 38^ 27' 28" N | Sacramento, CA
Civil Engineer | Elev. 31 ft. |jvarney@mail2.quiknet.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------