THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 725 1993 Apr 04 10.16UT Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4PP,England. Telephone/FAX(0256)471074 Int:+44256471074 TELEX: 9312111261 Answerback: TA G TELECOM GOLD: 10074:MIK2885 GMH at UK.AC.RUTHERFORD.STARLINK.ASTROPHYSICS STARLINK: RLSAC::GMH GMH at UK.AC.CAM.ASTRONOMY.STARLINK STARLINK: CAVAD::GMH ------------------------------------------------------------------- SUPERNOVA 1993K IN NGC 2223 A. Williams, University of Western Australia; and R. Martin, Perth Observatory, report their discovery of a possible supernova of mag 14.5 approximately 30" east and 31" north of the nucleus of NGC 2223 (R.A. = 6h22m.5, Decl. = -22D49', equinox 1950.0). The discovery was made on Mar. 28.55 UT in the course of the Perth Observatory Research Group's automated supernova search program, using the 0.61-m Perth-Lowell automated telescope. The object was reobserved on Mar. 29.5, but it had not been present on Mar. 10.5. P. C. Schmidtke, Arizona State University, obtained BVRI images of the field with the 0.9-m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, starting on Mar. 30.09 UT. He confirmed the presence of a star approximately 30" east and 28" north of the center of the galaxy, quick-look photometry yielding V = 15.4, B-V = +0.2, V-R = +0.1. M. M. Phillips, Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, reports that J. Maza and M. Wischnjewsky, University of Chile, obtained a low-resolution spectrum suggesting it is a type II event in an early stage. IAUC 5733 PERIODIC COMET SWIFT-TUTTLE (1992t) Total visual magnitude estimates: Feb. 24.76 UT, 9.2 (D. A. J. Seargent, The Entrance, N.S.W., 25 x 100 binoculars); 26.76, 9.4 (P. Camilleri, Cobram, Vic., Australia, 20 x 80 binoculars); Mar. 3.76, 9.7 (Camilleri); 21.77, 10.0 (Camilleri, 0.20-m reflector); 23.74, 10.2 (Camilleri). IAUC 5734 SUPERNOVA 1993J in NGC 3031 J.-M. Perelmuter, Observatoire du Mont Megantic, Universite de Montreal, notes the presence on Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope 1980 plates and Kitt Peak National Observatory 1990 CCD images of an object within 0".2 of the position of SN 1993J quoted by Hartwick et al. (cf E7240. The object appears stellar on images with FWHM as small as 1".0 and had V = 20.0, B-V = +1.1, V-R = +0.7 (uncertainty 0.1 mag) in Mar. 1990. IAUC 5736 NO NOVA IN OPHIUCHUS Using AST.EXE by N.James, the Editor finds that the proposed nova in Oph (cf E723) is in fact the asteroid (20) Massalia. An independent e-mail report from Jean-Claude Merlin in France confirms this identification.