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IAUC 6278: 1995bd, 1995an; RX J0439.8-6809 AND RX J0550.0-7151

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                                                  Circular No. 6278
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)


SUPERNOVAE 1995bd AND 1995an
     C. Pollas, Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, reports his
discovery, on technical pan films obtained with the 0.9-m Schmidt
telescope by D. Albanese on Dec. 19.93 and 21.96 UT, of an apparent
supernova (mag V about 18.8 and 18.2, respectively) in UGC 3151.
SN 1995bd is located at R.A. = 4h45m21s.24, Decl. = +11o04'02".5
(equinox 2000.0), which is 23".6 east and 1".6 south of the
galaxy's center.  Nothing is present at this location on the
digitized Sky Survey and the original Palomar Survey prints.  A
faint condensation is visible slightly to the west of SN 1995bd.  A
nearby star (V about 14) has position end figures 22s.09, 22".3.
On both films, the type-II SN 1995an is again bright at V about
18.5.
     P. Garnavich, A. Riess, R. Kirshner, Center for Astrophysics,
report:  "Spectra of SN 1995bd obtained by P. Berlind on Dec. 22
(Mt. Hopkins 1.5-m Tillinghast telescope) show strong, broad
absorption features at 500 and 425 nm, but no clear absorption in
the red.  The spectrum is similar to those of the peculiar type-Ia
supernovae 1991T and 1995ac before maximum.  Narrow host-galaxy
emission lines show a redshift of 0.016."


RX J0439.8-6809 AND RX J0550.0-7151
     P. C. Schmidtke and A. P. Cowley, Arizona State University,
communicate:  "Using data obtained at Cerro Tololo Interamerican
Observatory in November, we report the optical identification of
two supersoft x-ray sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud.  Within
the x-ray error circle (Greiner et al. 1994, A.Ap. 281, L61) for RX
J0439.8-6809, we find that Star 8 (R.A. = 4h39m49s.6, Decl. =
-68o09'02", equinox 2000.0; mean V about 21.8) varies by over half
a magnitude on a timescale of less than a day.  The star's
exceptionally blue colors of B-V = -0.36 and U-B = -1.22 strongly
suggest that it is the optical counterpart of this supersoft x-ray
source.  If at the distance of the LMC, an absolute magnitude of
about +3.5 is indicated.
     From a ROSAT HRI image, an improved position has been obtained
for RX J0550.0-7151, a variable, supersoft x-ray source (R.A. =
5h49m46s.7, Decl. = -71o49'38"; Cowley et al. 1993, Ap.J. 418, L63).
The source is nearly coincident with a red star (V = 13.53, B-V =
+1.45, U-B = +0.86) at R.A. = 5h49m46s.4, Decl. = -71o49'35".  Its
colors are consistent with a symbiotic or a composite system
containing a cool star plus a white dwarf, but spectra are needed."


1995 December 23               (6278)            Daniel W. E. Green

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