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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1138      1996 Oct 24 22.37UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074
INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK             GMH at AST.STAR.RL.AC.UK
WORLD WIDE WEB                    http://www.demon.co.uk/astronomer
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SUPERNOVA 1996bo IN NGC 673
The object found by Mark Armstrong has now been confirmed as a
supernova. It was also discovered independently by Weidong Li,
Qiran Qiao, Yulei Qiu, and Jingyao Hu, Beijing Astronomical
Observatory (BAO), as part of the BAO Supernova Survey on CCD
images taken on Oct. 18

In response to an e-mail from the Editor, M. Turatto and
S. Benetti, European Southern Observatory (ESO) obtained spectral
confirmation and report:

"A spectrum (range 360-740 nm, resolution 0.5 nm) taken on
Oct. 24.10 UT with the ESO 1.5-m telescope (+ Boller & Chivens
spectrograph) confirms that this is a supernova of type Ia, about
1 week before maximum.  Strong lines of Si II, S II, Fe III, and
Ca II are present, with minima measured at 618.2, 585.0, 549.8,
534.0, 492.3, 434.0, 403.8, and 372.2 nm.
The photospheric expansion velocity, measured from the minimum of
the Si II doublet, is about 13 300 km/s, while that measured from
Ca II is about 22 000 km/s, making this object more similar to SNe
1992A and 1981B than to SN 1994D (Patat et al. 1996, 278, 111).
Strong interstellar Na I D absorptions are measured at 599.2 and
599.9 nm -- i.e., at the same recession velocity (about 5250 km/s)
of the narrow H-alpha, [N II] and [S II] emissions of the parent
galaxy.  On Oct. 24.14, the following magnitudes were measured with
the Dutch 0.9-m telescope: B = 16.32, B-V = +0.32, V-R = +0.27; and
the position of SN 1996bo was measured to be 5".3 east and 1".7
south of the galaxy's centre."
IAUC 6497 (extract) and direct message from Turatto

On behalf of the whole TA membership we offer our sincere
congratulations to Mark on this well deserved success. A detailed
account of the discovery will appear in The Astronomer magazine
in due course.

Guy M Hurst