THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 750 1993 June 25 17.48UT 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- PROBABLE NOVA IN M31 R. R. Treffers, B. Leibundgut, and A. V. Filippenko, University of California at Berkeley; and M. W. Richmond, Princeton University, report the discovery of a probable nova in M31 at R.A. = 0h40m00s, Decl. = +40 59'.7 (equinox 1950.0), which is about 55" east and 79" north of the galaxy's nucleus. The object was found during the Leuschner Observatory Supernova Search, which uses an automated 0.76-m telescope equipped with the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory CCD camera, and it was detected in an image obtained on June 9 UT at magnitude R = 15.8 +/- 0.3. Confirmation was obtained on June 11. No object appears at this position to a limit of mag about 18 in an exposure taken on May 29. IAUC 5814 1993 KA2 An asteroidal object discovered by T.Gehrels with Spacewatch near R.A. = 14h54m, Decl. = -10.1 deg (equinox 2000.0), V = 18.5 on May 21.2 UT moved some 5 deg to the east and south and faded by 1 mag over the course of 5.5 hr. From an orbit determination by B. G. Marsden, Center for Astrophysics, Gehrels appears to have been able to recover the object at V = 20 the following night, but only a single detection could then be made, after which Marsden determined the following improved orbital elements: Epoch = 1993 Aug. 1.0 TT, T = 1993 Apr. 4.60 TT, Peri. = 261.30 deg, Node = 239.63 deg, i = 3.19 deg (equinox 2000.0), q = 0.5017 AU, e = 0.7748, a = 2.2272 AU. The object, with record faint absolute mag-nitude H about 29.0 (cf. 1991 BA, IAUC 5172), was 0.0047 AU from the earth at discovery and had made a record close approach of 0.0010 AU on May 20.9 TT; minimum distance from the moon was 0.0013 AU on May 20.7. IAUC 5817/5819 SUPERNOVAE 1993U AND 1993V IN ANONYMOUS GALAXIES C. Pollas, Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, reports his discovery of two apparent supernovae found on a single B plate taken June 16.9 UT with the OCA Schmidt telescope by D. Albanese and himself. The supernova candidates also appear on a film taken on June 19.9. SN 1993U (magnitude Bj about 19.5) is located at R.A. = 15h23m44s.62, Decl. = +50 45'07".4 (equinox 1950.0), which is 8".4 east and 6".6 north of the host galaxy's nucleus, the galaxy having mpg about 18.5. There is a nearby star of mpg about 14 with end figures 44s.81, 55".5. SN 1993V (Bj about 19) is located at R.A. = 15h29m32s.06, Decl. = +50 27'56".6, which is 6".9 west and 16".3 south of the nucleus of a galaxy of mpg about 18. A nearby star of B about 16 has end figures 27s.44, 26'56".2. Palomar Sky Survey prints show no objects to blue mag 20.5 and to red mag 20 for both supernovae. M. Dennefeld obtained several CCD images on June 21 with the 1.2-m telescope at Observatoire de Haute-Provence under nonphotometric conditions, showing SN 1993U to be very blue and SN 1993V to be red. IAUC 5818 PERIODIC COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY 9 (1993e) Photometry by Herman Mikuz, Slovenia, obtained with the 0.20-m, f/2 Baker-Schmidt camera + V filter + ST-6 CCD. 1993 June 18.87UT, V=14.1, trailed coma 0.8' x 0.5'.