Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 8204: N Sgr 2003 No. 2; 2003ia
The following International Astronomical Union Circular may be linked-to from your own Web pages, but must not otherwise be redistributed (see these notes on the conditions under which circulars are made available on our WWW site).
Read IAUC 8205
.dvi or
.ps format.
Circular No. 8204
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)
NOVA SAGITTARII 2003 No. 2
N. J. Brown, Quinns Rocks, W. Australia, reports his discovery
of a possible nova (mag 9.2) on T-Max 400 film exposed with a
135-mm f/2 camera lens on Sept. 17.52 UT, providing a position of
R.A. = 18h10m13s, Decl. = -27o45'39" (equinox 2000.0). On Sept.
18.43, Brown estimated visual mag 8.8. H. Yamaoka, Kyushu
University, reports that the new star appears at V about 10.7 on an
ASAS-3 CCD frame taken on Sept. 16.07 (though its image is merged
with that of two neighboring stars). J. D. West, Mulvane, KS,
reports the following precise position from four CCD V images
(which yielded V = 8.98 +/- 0.03, R_c = 8.49 +/- 0.05, and
[H_alpha] = 1.80 +/- 0.03 for the nova on Sept. 19.085): R.A. =
18h10m10s.42, Decl. = -27o45'35".2 (+/- 0".17). West adds that
nothing is located at this position on a SERC V plate taken in 1987.
W. Liller, Vina del Mar, Chile, reports that a grating spectrum
(dispersion 0.78 nm/pixel) shows a prominent H_alpha emission (FWHM
= 550 km/s) with a peak approximately 2.3 times brighter than the
surrounding continuum; a narrow P-Cyg absorption appears to be
present and shifted 590 km/s towards the blue. CCD magnitudes from
Liller (through thin cirrus): Sept. 19.104, V = 8.91 +/- 0.05;
19.106, B = 9.79 +/- 0.15. Nothing is visible to mag 11.5 on a red
film taken by Liller on Sept. 13.12.
G. Ruch, E. Polomski, and C. E. Woodward, University of
Minnesota; R. M. Wagner, LBT Observatory; and S. Starrfield,
Arizona State University, report that optical spectra (range
370-640 nm, resolution 0.6 nm) were obtained with the Steward
Observatory Bok 2.3-m telescope on Kitt Peak on Sept. 19.10 UT,
showing that the spectrum of Brown's object exhibits emission lines
of H_beta (equivalent width 0.6 nm), H_gamma, H_delta and numerous
Fe II lines with P-Cyg profiles superposed on a flat continuum.
The FWHM of H_beta emission is 612 km/s, and the terminal velocity
of the absorption component is 800 km/s. The equivalent width of
the diffuse interstellar line at 578 nm is 0.05 nm, corresponding
to E(B-V) about 0.1 mag. The spectra confirm that this object is
an Fe-II-class nova in its early decline stage.
SUPERNOVA 2003ia IN NGC 6109
Further to IAUC 8203, T. Matheson et al. report that a
spectrum of SN 2003ia (cf. IAUC 8201), obtained by Calkins on
Sept. 19.18 UT, shows it to be a type-Ia supernova, about 2 weeks
past maximum.
(C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 September 19 (8204) Daniel W. E. Green
Read IAUC 8205
.dvi or
.ps format.
Our Web policy. Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.
