Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 7875: 2002ce; 2002ca; C/2002 A4, C/2002 G3
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Circular No. 7875
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)
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Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only)
SUPERNOVA 2002ce IN NGC 2604
R. Arbour, South Wonston, Hants., England, reports his discovery of an
apparent supernova roughly 16" west and 12" south of the nucleus of the
barred-spiral galaxy NGC 2604. The object, of mag 16.0-16.5, was found on an
unfiltered CCD image obtained with a 0.3-m f/6.3 Schmidt Cassegrain and
Starlight Xpress CCD camera on Apr. 10.878 UT and confirmed on Apr. 11.863.
The object's existence was also confirmed on Apr. 10.909 and 11.838 by T.
Boles, Coddenham, Suffolk, who gave the position as R.A. = 8h33m22s.1, Decl.
= +29d32'01" (equinox 2000.0). Arbour notes that the object was not present
on his image of the region on Apr. 5.200, and it is also absent on the
second-generation Digitised Sky Survey.
T. Matheson, S. Jha, P. Challis and R. Kirshner, Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, report that a spectrum (range 370-750 nm), obtained
by P. Berlind on Apr. 12.18 UT with the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.5-m
telescope (+ FAST spectrograph), shows it to be a type II supernova near
maximum. The spectrum consists of a blue continuum with P-Cyg lines of
hydrogen. Adopting the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database recession velocity of
2094 km/s for the host galaxy, the expansion velocity derived from the minimum
of the H-beta line is 5300 km/s.
SUPERNOVA 2002ca IN UGC 8521
Matheson et al. also report that a similar spectrum, obtained by Berlind
on Apr. 5.35 UT, also having a blue continuum and P-Cyg lines of hydrogen,
shows SN 2002ca (cf. IAUC 7866) to be a type II supernova before maximum.
Adopting the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database recession velocity of 3277 km/s
for the host galaxy, the expansion velocity derived from the minimum of the
H-beta line is 7900 km/s.
COMETS C/2002 A4 AND C/2002 G3 (SOHO)
Further to IAUC 7873, D. Hammer and D. Biesecker report their measurements
of comets found by R. Kracht on C2 and by X.-M. Zhou on C3 coronagraph
images on the SOHO website. Reduced astrometry and orbital elements by the
undersigned appear on the MPECs cited below. C/2002 A4 belongs to the
Meyer group. C/2002 G3, estimated at m1 = 8.5 +/- 0.5 and perhaps at r = 0.27
AU at discovery, should brighten some in SOHO images as it approaches
perihelion (r = q = 0.08 AU) on Apr. 17.
Comet 2002 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. MPEC
C/2002 A4 Jan. 1.163 18 48.8 -21 56 2002-G45
C/2002 G3 Apr. 12.113 1 40.2 + 1 54 2002-G51
(C) Copyright 2002 CBAT
2002 April 12 (7875) Brian G. Marsden
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