Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 8258: QUASAR OUTBURST IN Men; 2003kw, 2003kx
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Circular No. 8258
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
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Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)
QUASAR OUTBURST IN MENSA
A. Clocchiatti and D. Minitti, Pontificia Universidad Catolica
de Chile, on behalf of the SuperMACHO project (involving also C.
Aguilera, A. Becker, K. Cook, R. Covarrubias, S. Hawley, R.
Hiriart, S. Keller, A. Miceli, G. Miknaitis, S. Nikolaev, K. Olsen,
J. Prieto, G. Proctor, A. Rest, B. Schmidt, C. Smith, C. Stubbs, N.
Suntzeff, and D. Welch), report the discovery of a highly unusual
outburst of a quasistellar object (QSO) at z = 2.87. The object,
located at R.A. = 5h13m03s.94, Decl. = -70o22'50".5 (equinox
2000.0), had a quiescent broadband magnitude of VR approximately
22.2. Multiple broadband-VR-filter images taken at the Blanco 4-m
telescope at Cerro Tololo reveal no significant change in
brightness from the beginning of observations in 2001 Sept. until
2003 Sept. 27 UT, around the date that it began to brighten
linearly in flux with time. By Dec. 15, it had brightened by a
factor of 15 and has reached VR = 19.4 with no evidence of a
change in trend. Identified as a SuperMACHO microlensing
candidate, follow-up spectroscopy (456-s exposure) was obtained at
the Magellan II (Clay) 6.5-m telescope (+ LDSS2 spectrograph with
medium-blue grism) on Dec. 3.8. The spectrum reveals several
prominent QSO lines with strong P-Cyg profiles, indicative of an
ejection velocity of 1600 km/s; identified features include H
(Lyman-alpha), N V, C IV 154.9-nm, Si IV 139.3-nm, O IV, and [C
III] 191.0-nm. The high redshift, extreme current luminosity,
evidence of outflow (from P-Cyg line profiles), and continued
brightening suggest that this is an object worthy of intense
monitoring.
SUPERNOVAE 2003kw AND 2003kx
T. Matheson, P. Challis, and R. Kirshner, Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, report that a spectrum (range 370-750 nm)
of SN 2003kw (cf. IAUC 8252), obtained by M. Calkins on Dec. 17.46
UT with the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST
spectrograph), shows it to be a type-II supernova. Adopting the
NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) recession velocity of 7880
km/s for the host galaxy, the expansion velocity derived from the
minimum of the H_beta line is 6300 km/s. A spectrum of SN 2003kx
(cf. IAUC 8254), obtained on Dec. 17.50, shows it to be a type-II
supernova. Adopting the NED recession velocity of 1860 km/s for
the host galaxy, the expansion velocity derived from the minimum of
the H_beta line is 8200 km/s.
(C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 December 20 (8258) Daniel W. E. Green
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