Electronic Telegram No. 3169
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau@eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat@iau.org)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


COMET 29P/SCHWASSMANN-WACHMANN
     M. W. Hosek, R. M. Suggs, W. J. Cooke, and R. C. Blaauw, Meteroid
Environment Office, Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA, report that an
outburst of comet 29P was observed on July 1.1619 UT, when it was observed
at magnitude R = 16.16 in a 20" x 20" photometric aperture (compared to R =
14.21 on June 26.1416) via CCD 180-s images obtained using a 0.5-m f/8.1
Ritchey-Chretien telescope (+ Apogee U9000 camera + Johnson R filter, with
4x4 binning) at the New Mexico Skies Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A.
This outburst is accompanied by a significant increase in dust production, as
measured by the Af(rho) parameter (1305 cm on June 26.1416, vs. 7881 cm on
July 1.1619, without solar phase-angle correction).  Follow-up observations
made on July 2.1642 confirm the heightened activity level of the comet, with
an apparent R magnitude of 14.30 and Af(rho) value of 7263 cm.

     Visual total-magnitude estimates:  2011 Nov. 8.24 UT, 10.2 (J. J.
Gonzalez, Asturias, Spain, 0.20-m reflector); 24.22, 10.0 (Gonzalez, Leon,
Spain); 25.85, 13.6 (S. Yoshida, Gunma, Japan, 0.40-m reflector); Dec. 7.22,
10.3 (Gonzalez); 2012 Jan. 3.24, 14.2 (Gonzalez); Mar. 15.03, 13.8 (Gonzalez);
Apr. 8.90, 12.0 (Gonzalez); May 14.95, 11.0 (Gonzalez); 17.90, 13.5 (U. Pilz,
Leipzig, Germany, 32-cm reflector); 19.88, 12.1 (M. L. Paradowski, Dabrowa,
Poland, 0.20-m reflector); June 13.97, 10.8 (Gonzalez).


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 July 8                      (CBET 3169)              Daniel W. E. Green