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IAUC 8049: C/2003 A2; 2003I; 2003H

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IAUC number 

                                                  Circular No. 8049
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)


COMET C/2003 A2
     Arianna E. Gleason, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, reports
her discovery of a slow-moving comet on Jan. 10.4 UT (discovery
position below) with the Spacewatch II telescope at Kitt Peak; J.
V. Scotti adds that there was a more-or-less symmetrical coma about
20" across.  On making follow-up observations on Jan. 11.3 (after
placement on The NEO Confirmation Page), D. T. Durig and H. H. Fry
(Sewanee, TN, 0.3-m f/5.75 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector) confirmed
a coma 15"-18" in diameter, and F. B. Zoltowski (Edgewood, NM,
0.3-m f/3.3 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector) noted that the coma/tail
structure had the appearance of a broad fan from p.a. 20 deg
northward through p.a. 200 deg.  On Jan. 12.0, J. Ticha and M.
Tichy (Klet Observatory, 1.06-m KLENOT Telescope) indicated a coma
diameter of 8"-10", with m_1 = 20.2 and m_2 = 21.0.  The object's
cometary nature was also noted by T. Gehrels (Spacewatch II) on
Jan. 11-13 and by J. G. Ries (McDonald Observatory, 0.76-m
reflector) on Jan. 14.3.

     2003 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.        m1
     Jan. 10.39264    8 55 59.44   +13 36 48.5   20.0

     MPEC 2003-A78 contains the full astrometry and a very
tentative parabolic orbit (assumed T = 2003 Jan. 10; hence q = 11.5
AU, i = 8 deg).  It seems likely that the object is a Centaur,
showing cometary activity as (2060) = 95P/Chiron has shown near
perihelion.


SUPERNOVA 2003I IN IC 2481
     T. Matheson, P. Challis, and R. Kirshner, Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, report that a spectrum (range 370-750 nm)
of SN 2003I (cf. IAUC 8046), obtained by M. Calkins on Jan. 12.41
UT with the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST
spectrograph), shows it to be a type-Ib supernova, similar to SN
1998dt at 8 days past maximum (see Matheson et al. 2001, A.J. 121,
1648).


SUPERNOVA 2003H IN NGC 2207
     Corrigendum.  The final sentence on IAUC 8047 should be
replaced with:  "The Na I D interstellar lines are present in
absorption with an equivalent width of 0.6 nm, which suggests
significant reddening in the host galaxy.  Most likely this is the
reason why the spectrum of SN 2003H is so red compared to that of
the type-Ib supernova 1984L."

                      (C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 January 15                (8049)            Daniel W. E. Green

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