Circular No. 6966
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
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Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)


GRB 980703
     A. Levine, E. Morgan, and M. Muno, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), report on behalf of the RXTE ASM team at MIT and
Goddard Space Flight Center:  "A gamma-ray burst that occurred on
about July 3.182 UT (BATSE trigger 6891) was in the field-of-view
of two ASM cameras.  The resulting detection yielded a position of
R.A. = 23h59m05s, Decl. = +8o33'.6 (equinox 2000.0), with an
uncertainty of about 4' radius (90-percent confidence).  The burst
peak intensity was roughly 1.7 Crab (2-12 keV)."


SGR 1627-41
     K. Hurley, Space Sciences Laboratory; T. Cline and P.
Butterworth, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA; and E. Mazets and
S. Golenetskii, Ioffe Institute, on behalf of the Ulysses and
Konus-Wind teams, report:  "We have triangulated the position of
this soft gamma-ray repeater using seven Konus-Ulysses events
between June 17 and 22.   A typical annulus has a center at R.A. =
22h03m04s, Decl. = -9o49'.8 (equinox 2000.0), and a radius of
77.247 +/- 0.013 deg.  Around the position of the supernova remnant
(SNR) G337.0-0.1, this annulus nests within the one reported
previously (IAUC 6948), but is considerably narrower.  Around this
position, the seven annuli give results that are mutually
consistent to better than 10".  The positions of the annuli suggest
that, if the source of the bursts is indeed within the SNR, it lies
between the two radio lobes.  An image may be found at
http://ssl.berkeley.edu/ipn3/sgr1627-41/."


JUNE BOOTID METEORS 1998
     P. Brown and W. K. Hocking, University of Western Ontario,
write in regard to the meteor activity reported on IAUC 6954:
"Radar observations  with the Skiymet meteor radar (35.24 MHz) in
Saskatoon, SK, show a strong increase in radar rates centered on
June 27.60 +/- 0.04 UT.  Using radiant mapping techniques (Jones
and Morton 1982, MNRAS 200, 281) in conjunction with a 5-element
interferometer, a radiant centered at R.A. = 228 +/- 3 deg, Decl. =
+54 +/- 3 deg (equinox 2000.0) is evident from meteor echo data,
though the radiant area is quite diffuse (with an additional
radiant activity center near R.A. = 219 deg, Decl. = +61 deg).  The
peak shower flux (assuming a mass index of 2.0) to the radar
limiting absolute magnitude of +7.5 was 0.12 +/- 0.02 meteoroids
kmE-2 hrE-1.  The corresponding orbit is similar to that of comet
7P/Pons-Winnecke and suggests a recurrence of the periodic June
Bootid shower associated with that comet."

                      (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT
1998 July 4                    (6966)            Daniel W. E. Green