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IAUC 7738: C/2001 T4; Poss. N SMC; N IN M31

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 7738
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html  ISSN 0081-0304
Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)


COMET C/2001 T4 (NEAT)
     S. Pravdo, E. F. Helin, M. Hicks, and K. Lawrence, Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, report the discovery by the NEAT program of
a comet with a diffuse coma of diameter about 4" and a southward
tail about 10" long on CCD images taken on Oct. 15 with the Palomar
1.2-m Schmidt telescope.  Additional NEAT images on Oct. 21.4 UT
show the comet as very diffuse and faint, elongated east-west.

     2001 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.        m1
     Oct. 15.34693    1 21 22.08   - 5 18 27.8   20.3

All of the available astrometry, including apparent prediscovery
observations made by LONEOS on Aug. 27, and the following orbital
elements (from 17 observations, Aug. 27-Oct. 23) appear on MPEC
2001-U41.

     T = 2002 Jan.  4.7457 TT         Peri. = 315.2964
     e = 0.394952                     Node  =  64.8321  2000.0
     q = 8.555151 AU                  Incl. =  15.2763
       a = 14.139618 AU    n = 0.0185373    P =  53.169 years


POSSIBLE NOVA IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD
     W. Liller, Vina del Mar, Chile, reports his discovery of a
novalike object (mag 12.1) on Tech Pan photographs taken on Oct.
21.0857 and 21.0879 UT.  The new object, located at R.A. =
0h46m27s.8 +/- 0s.7, Decl. = -73o29'40".1 +/- 1".2 (equinox
2000.0), does not appear on any of 45 photographs taken by Liller
since Sept. 2000, including 2001 Sept. 27.36 (limiting mag 13.5).
This position is about 1'.6 west and 1'.5 south of that of the
Harvard variable HV1429 (= V355 SMC; Gen. Cat. Var. Stars, 5, 81).
A CCD observation made by Liller on Oct. 22.0725 gave a broadband V
magnitude of 12.22 (comparison star HD 4558).  A. Pearce, Nedlands,
W. Australia, reports that Liller's possible nova appeared at
visual mag 13.2 on Oct. 23.842.


NOVA IN M31
     A. V. Filippenko and R. Chornock, University of California at
Berkeley, report that a CCD spectrum (range 330-1000 nm) obtained
on Oct. 20 UT with the 3-m Shane reflector at Lick Observatory
indicates that the apparent nova in M31 reported on IAUC 7729 is
indeed a nova, with strong Balmer and Fe II emission lines.

                      (C) Copyright 2001 CBAT
2001 October 23                (7738)            Daniel W. E. Green

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