Arne, you're right; this object is missing from the 2000 version
of PGC used in Guide. It _was_ present in the 1992 and 1996
versions of PGC, complete with a cross-reference to POX 186.
My assumption would be that the folks at the Universite de Lyon
did some housecleaning. It would be easy to conclude that this
was yet another example of a nonexistent object, and that it should
therefore be omitted from the catalogue. Looks as if the omission
was incorrect ("the last time I made a mistake was when I thought
I was wrong.")
Arturo, the ETBs look interesting... I'll add suitable links from the
"extras" page. (I see elsewhere that you've also tackled the "closest
Mars opposition" problem, showing that the 2003 opposition will be
the closest in at least 5000 years... though several closer ones will
occur in the current millennium:
http://www.ctv.es/USERS/aramirez/cielos/remoto/appmar.html
I'd read a bit on this subject, but hadn't broken down and done
the math myself.)
NOTE: the above URL is in Spanish, but the table of close
oppositions of Mars should be readable by all.
-- Bill