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.
As Prof. Pilcher reported (above), Minor Planets Section observations of 313 different planets in 1979 failed to show any with large ephemeris errors. Are we to conclude positional observations are no longer needed?
Gunlod- a Main Belt Asteroid with a Large Amplitude
bstract. The minor planet 657 Gunldd was found by visual observation in February and March, 1980, to have a large amplitude lightcurve near 1.0 mag. The rotation period could not be uniquely determined but may be near 15h or near 11h.
The Photometry Division of the A.L.P.O. Minor Planets Section has received 25 observations in the past year. This is almost exactly the same number as was received in the year 1977-1978 but there is an encouraging difference: three of this year's light curves are photoelectric. We feel this is a sign of serious, long-term interest in the photometry program, and hope it will encourage other amateurs and college/university student groups to make contributions which can prove valuable, whether they are visual, photographic, or photoelectric.
Method for Calculating an Object's Position Using Two Reference Stars
This special observer's supplement is intended as an aid for serious amateur observers and for college and university undergraduate students who would like to get involved in minor planet observations, but who do not (at the moment at least) have access to the necessary ephemerides, occultation predictions, and/or photometry opportunity predictions. Such information is available (see below), but given the speed of mails today it might be several weeks before such materials might come to hand, and the expense might be a deterent to those who at this point are unsure of just how deeply they might wish to become involved, In any event, valuable observing opportunities would be lost.
