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IAUC 8170: C/2003 O1; 2003gn, 2003gp,, 2003gq

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 8170
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/2003 O1 (LINEAR)
     An apparently asteroidal object reported by LINEAR (discovery
observation below), and posted on the NEO Confirmation Page, has
been found to have cometary appearance on CCD images taken by P.
Kusnirak (Ondrejov; 0.65-m f/3.6 reflector; well-condensed
condensation and a faint 20" tail toward the southeast) and by P.
Birtwhistle (Great Shefford, U.K.; nuclear condensation of diameter
about 6" with a faint, short, broad tail about 15" long in p.a. 139
deg; mag 17.3-18.2).

     2003 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     July 19.26109   19 34 24.63   +38 36 12.4   18.4

Additional astrometry is given on MPECs 2003-O15 and 2003-O40; the
following parabolic orbital elements and an ephemeris also appear
on MPEC 2003-O40.

     T = 2004 Mar. 10.367 TT          Peri. =  81.104
                                      Node  = 347.607   2000.0
     q = 6.85733 AU                   Incl. = 117.967


SUPERNOVAE 2003gn, 2003gp, AND 2003gq
     A. V. Filippenko, R. J. Foley, and L. Desroches, University of
California, Berkeley, report that inspection of CCD spectra (range
320-1000 nm) obtained on July 27 UT with the Shane 3-m telescope at
Lick Observatory reveals that SN 2003gn (IAUC 8168) is of type Ia,
close to maximum brightness.  SN 2003gq (IAUC 8168) is also of type
Ia, but its spectrum resembles that of the peculiar SN 1991T (e.g.,
Filippenko et al. 1992, Ap.J. 384, L15) near or slightly before
maximum brightness:  the Si II and Ca II absorption lines are weak,
while Fe III lines are prominent.  SN 2003gp (IAUC 8168) is of type
II, not long after the explosion; the continuum is quite blue, and
low-contrast H_alpha having a P-Cyg profile is visible.
     T. Matheson, P. Challis, and R. Kirshner, Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, report that a spectrum (range 370-750 nm)
of SN 2003gn, obtained by P. Berlind on July 29.37 UT with the F. L.
Whipple Observatory 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST spectrograph), shows it
to be a type-Ia supernova near maximum.  Adopting the NASA/IPAC
Extragalactic Database recession velocity of 10328 km/s for the
host galaxy, the supernova expansion velocity is 12800 km/s for Si
II (rest 635.5 nm).  The spectral-feature age of the supernova is 1
+/- 2 days before maximum light.

                      (C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 July 30                   (8170)            Daniel W. E. Green

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