The Minor Planet Bulletin BULLETIN OF THE MINOR PLANETS SECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF LUNAR AND PLANETARY OBSERVERS
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The Minor Planet Bulletin is the journal for almost all amateurs and even some professionals for publishing
asteroid photometry results, including lightcurves, H-G parameters, color indexes, and shape/spin axis models.
It is considered to be a refereed journal by the SAO/NASA ADS.
All MPB papers are indexed in the ADS.
Print subscriptions are no longer available to individuals. Institutions (e.g., college libraries) can still
obtain print copies via a special subscription. See details in MPB 37-4 or contact the editor, Richard Binzel.
Annual voluntary contributions of $5.00 or more in support of the publication are welcome.
Please send a check, drawn on a U.S. bank and payable in U.S. funds, to "Minor Planet Bulletin" and send it to:
Minor Planet Bulletin
c/o Melissa Hayes-Gehrke
UMD Astronomy Department
1113 PSC Bldg 415
College Park, MD 20742
Authors Guide and Word Templates
(v.3.0: updated 2024 February 2)
The ZIP file contains the Authors Guide PDF as well as a "starter" paper in Word 2007+ (DOTX).
Those using Word 97 (DOC/DOT) are encouraged to download
OpenOffice and convert their files to
the most recent Word format (DOCX). Please read this updated guide since there are a number of changes from previous guides.
A new, optional, table is available for those wanting to include physical and
discovery information
in a more accessible way.
See the announcement in Minor Planet Bulletin51-2.
The Pts column is no longer required and has been removed from the template for the standard
table
to allow more room for the other columns.
The phase column should have only two values: for the first and last date in the range.
If the phase reaches an extrema between those dates, put an asterisk before the first value.
For example,
*7.2,13.7.
Use semicolons to separate names in the references section. For example:
Smith, J.J.; Jones, A.A. (2019).
This also applies if using several references to the same author in the text. For example:
"This asteroid was observed at three previous apparitions (Jones, 2015; 2017; 2018)..."
Issues for the upcoming quarter-year are released on about the 21st of March, June, September, and December.
Full issues and individual papers from vol 1 (1973) to present are available via links on this page.
Important: If the ADS bibcode and "Download PDF" links are missing for the latest issue, it is because the ADS has
not processed the files. The links will be made available after the ADS processes the files.
If the "Download PDF" link is visible and there is no PDF available, clicking the link will download an arbitrary
page. We are working with ADS to make sure all papers are available and, if not, being able to diasable the link.
The "Download Full Issue" link does retrieve the correct file.
Vol 1-7 run Jul-Jun. Vol 8-present run Jan-Dec. Only papers indexed in the ADS are included.
Earlier volumes often contain more papers than listed here. It's recommended to download the
full issue in vol 1-9.
A satellite of 532 Herculina was discovered visually and confirmed photoelectrically at another station when the asteroid occulted 6.2 magnitude SAO 120774 on 1978 June 7.
The occultation of the star SAO 120774 by minor planet 532 Herculina on June 7, 1978, was observed by three independent observers, A total of seven extinctions were timed by the author. The primary occultation, timed at all three stations, has led to a determination of the diameter of Herculina, A secondary occultation, timed by the author and at one other station, was probably caused by a satellite of Herculina. The five other extinctions observed only by the author suggest the possibility of additional satellites or lowdensity rings.
The satellite reported orbiting 532 Herculina is apparently fairly massive relative to its primary. At a distance of somewhat less than 1000 km, tidal forces would be strong, yet Herculina has a 9.4 hour rotation period, remarkably short considering the probable period of the relatively massive satellite.
Paul Maley's observation of an event occurring well outside the main path of the 1977 occultation of the star Gamma Ceti by the minor planet 6 Hebe was initially greeted with much skepticism, Because of the experienced Maley's certainty in his observation, David Dunham recognized that Maley had probably observed an occultation by a satellite of Hebe,(Cf, Occultation Newsletter, 1977 July; MPB 5, 16-17 (1977)) The question of minor planet multiplicity has been raised several times previously in astronomical literature but has never gained much attention, Now in the light of recent occultation observations,multiple minor planet systems are becoming more widely accepted.
This report covers observations submitted to the Photometry Co-ordinators from 1977 June to 1978 July. Only objects which were no longer being observed at the latter time are included, It is good to see the rise in observing activity during this period: two dozen observations were received in the first half of 1978 compared with just two for the first half of 1977.
Conjunctions of Minor Planets with Bright Stars in 1979
