16 Cometary / minor planet orbital data
Description
This article is from the Space FAQ, by Jon Leech leech@cs.unc.edu and Mark Bradford tla@surly.org with numerous contributions by others.
16 Cometary / minor planet orbital data
Catalogue of Cometary Orbits
The availability of the tenth edition of the Catalogue of Cometary
Orbits was announced on IAUC 6128 issued on 1995 Jan. 27. The 108 pages
contain 1472 sets of orbital elements (in the J2000.0 system) for 1444
cometary apparitions through the end of 1994. The latest edition is the
first to utilise the new cometary designations and includes detailed
cross-references with the pre-1995 scheme. As an entirely new feature,
there is a special tabulation giving osculating elements for the 116
numbered periodic comets (excluding five deemed to be lost) for the
epochs 1995 Mar. 24 and Oct. 10. The price, postage included is US$20.00
(US$30.00 by airmail outside North America). The main part of the
catalogue and the table of `original' and `future' 1/a values for the
298 long-period comets of the highest quality can by supplied by e-mail
for US$50.00; they are also available on an MS-DOS diskette (5.25-inch
or 3.5-inch) for US$110.00 (US$120.00 for airmail delivery), this
including a facility for extracting individual orbits and computing
ephemerides. Checks should be made payable to the Central Bureau for
Astronomical Telegrams and mailed to:
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Mail Stop 18
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
60 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
U.S.A.
email: iausubs@cfa.harvard.edu
Subscribers to the IAU Circulars can have their accounts debited by the
appropriate amount.
Efemeridy Malkyh Planet (Ephemerides Of Minor Planets)
This annual volume is the official IAU publication listing orbital
elements for the numbered minor planets. It is published by the
Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, St. Petersburg and is distributed by
White Nights Trading Company
520 N.E. 83rd Street
Seattle, WA 98115
USA
email: 71023.2454@compuserve.com
The MS-DOS diskette version of the EMP is also available. The 1995
edition contains orbital elements and opposition ephemerides for 5791
numbered minor planets.
Catalogue Of Orbits Of Unnumbered Minor Planets
The availability of the fifth edition of this catalogue was announced on
Minor Planet Circular (MPC) 24251. It contains orbital elements for
15587 single-opposition minor planets, all without consideration of
perturbations, and is complete through the 1994 Nov. 18 batch of MPCs.
The 4553 unnumbered multiple-opposition and long-arc perturbed orbits
are in the Catalogue of High-Precision Orbits of Unnumbered Minor
Planets. The catalogue is available for $30.00 ($40.00 for airmail
delivery), and the orbits are also being issued on an MS-DOS diskette
for $120.00.
Catalogue Of High-Precision Orbits Of Unnumbered Minor Planets
The 1995 (third) edition of this annual publication was announced on
Minor Planet Circular (MPC) 24133. The orbits given are for the epoch
1995 Oct. 10.0 TT and the catalogue is complete through th 1994 Nov. 18
batch of MPCs. Osculating elements for the epoch 1995 Oct. 10.0 TT = JDT
2450000.5 are given for 4750 multiple-opposition and 227 long-arc
perturbed orbits. Opposition positions and motions are given for objects
that reach opposition between 1994 Dec. 1 and 1996 Jan. 31; more
extensive ephemerides are given for unusual minor planets. The new
catalogue, intended as a companion to the Efemeridy Malykh Planet (EMP),
costs $30.00 ($40.00 for airmail delivery). The orbits are also being
issued on an MS-DOS diskette for $120.00; the ephemerides are not
included, but there is a PC-computer program for generating them.
If both the Catalogue of High-Precision Orbits of Unnumbered Minor
Planets and the Catalogue Of Orbits Of Unnumbered Minor Planets are
desired, they are available at the special price of $50.00 ($65.00 for
airmail delivery). The corresponding MS-DOS diskettes are available for
$200.00 the pair.
Minor Planet Center
Mail Stop 18
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
60 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
USA
email: iausubs@cfa.harvard.edu
Subscribers to the IAU Circulars or Minor Planet Circulars can have
their accounts debited by the appropriate amount.
Minor Planet Circulars
The Minor Planet Circulars (MPCs) (also known as Minor Planets and
Comets) are published generally on the date of each full moon. The
Circulars contain astrometric observations, orbits and ephemerides of
both minor planets and comets. New numberings and namings of minor
planets, as well as numberings of periodic comets, are announced in the
Circulars. An average batch of MPCs runs to over 150 two-column pages
and contains over 7000 minor-planet observations. Details from the Minor
Planet Center (address above). Sample pages are displayed at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/mpc.html
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