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IAUC 8254: 2003kx, 2003ky; MARS; Corrs

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 8254
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)


SUPERNOVAE 2003kx AND 2003ky
     Further to IAUC 8252, M. Armstrong reports his discovery of
two apparent supernovae on unfiltered CCD images taken with a
0.35-m reflector.

SN       2003 UT       R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2003kx   Dec. 8.068    8 04 12.35  +84 38 27.3  16.8   18" W, 1".7 S
2003ky   Dec. 8.180   11 58 06.30  +47 19 59.5  17.4   4".8 W, 6".2 S

SN 2003kx in UGC 4078 was also imaged on Dec. 9.075 UT, but nothing
was visible at its location on Armstrong's images from Oct. 17 and
Nov. 6 (limiting mag 19).  SN 2003ky in NGC 4001 was also imaged by
Armstrong on Dec. 9.219, but nothing was visible at its location on
an image from May 26 (limiting mag 19.5).  Neither new object is
visible on Palomar Sky Survey red and blue plates.


MARS
     T. Encrenaz and B. Bezard, Paris Observatory; T. K. Greathouse
and J. H. Lacy, University of Texas at Austin; M. J. Richter,
University of California, Davis; and S. K. Atreya and A. S. Wong,
University of Michigan, report: "On June 20, we made an unambiguous
detection of hydrogen peroxide (H_2O_2) on Mars (L_s = 206 deg),
using high-resolution infrared spectroscopy at the NASA Infrared
Telescope Facility (+ TEXES grating spectrograph) at Mauna Kea.
Six individual spectral lines were identified in the range 1237-
1244 cm**-1.  The spatial distribution of H_2O_2 over the Martian
disk shows some enrichment in the equatorial region.  The inferred
H_2O_2 abundance is significantly larger than the upper limit we
derived from observations on 2001 Feb. 2-3 (L_s = 112 deg) using
the same technique (Encrenaz et al. 2002, Astron. Astrophys. 396,
1037), and it appears to be within the range of predictions from
photochemical models.  These observations show that H_2O_2 is
seasonally variable.  H_2O_2 has been suggested as the possible
oxidant for the surface of Mars."


CORRIGENDA
     On IAUC 8253, 'Novae in M31', line 3, the offset SHOULD READ
185" east and 282" south
     On IAUC 8236, 'Supernova 2003jg in NGC 2997', line 3, FOR
SN 2000jg  READ  SN 2003jg

                      (C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 December 9                (8254)            Daniel W. E. Green

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