Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 8185: PECULIAR Var IN Cru; 2003hm
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Circular No. 8185
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
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PECULIAR VARIABLE IN CRUX
H. E. Bond, Space Telescope Science Institute, reports that
spectra (resolution 0.22 nm; range 402-493 nm) of Tabur's possible
nova (cf. IAUC 8184), obtained with the SMARTS Consortium 1.5-m
telescope at Cerro Tololo by S. Gonzalez on Aug. 21.95 UT, appear
to confirm that the object is a classical nova. Although taken
under poor observing conditions, the spectra show weak H_beta
emission with a broad, blue-shifted absorption component,
characteristic of a nova before or near maximum light.
M. Della Valle, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Florence;
D. Hutsemekers, University of Liege; and I. Saviane and E.
Wenderoth, European Southern Observatory (ESO), write: "Preliminary
analysis of a spectrum (range 380-740 nm; resolution about 0.1 nm)
of the variable star reported on IAUC 8184, obtained on Aug. 22.02
UT with the ESO 3.6-m telescope (+ EFOSC2) at La Silla, shows a
reddened continuum characterized by a lack of the typical
signatures exhibited by Fe- or He/N-type classical novae in their
early evolution. We detect faint H_alpha and H_beta emission lines
flanked by P-Cyg profiles. The expansion velocity derived from the
minima of the P-Cyg profiles is about 500 km/s. All of this
suggests this object not to be a classical nova, but possibly a
post-asymptotic-giant-branch star in flare-up, a V4332 Sgr-type
object (Martini et al. 1999, A.J. 118, 1034), or a V838 Mon-type
object (IAUC 7785; Bond et al. 2003, Nature 422, 405) caught at an
early stage."
Visual magnitude estimates: Aug. 21.944 UT, 9.0: (W. Souza,
Sao Paulo, Brazil); 21.948, 9.1 (J. G. S. Aguiar, Campinas, S.P.,
Brazil); 22.493, 10.2 (A. Pearce, Nedlands, W. Australia).
SUPERNOVA 2003hm IN UGC 2295
Further to IAUC 8184, T. Boles reports the discovery of an
apparent supernova (mag 17.7) on unfiltered CCD images taken on
Aug. 20.112 and 21.069 UT with a 0.35-m reflector in the course of
the U.K. Nova/Supernova Patrol. The new object is located at R.A.
= 2h48m58s.39, Decl. = +3 10'07".6, which is approximately 6".4
west of the center of UGC 2295. SN 2003hm is not present on Boles'
images from Jan. 7 and Feb. 17 (limiting mag 19.0), and it is not
present on Palomar Sky Survey 1990 red or 1992 blue plates.
(C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
2003 August 22 (8185) Daniel W. E. Green
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