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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1246      1997 Oct 30 22.00UT
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 1997dn IN NGC 3451
     G. M. Hurst, Basingstoke, England, reports the discovery of an
apparent supernova (mag about 16.0) by Tom Boles, Wellingborough,
on CCD frames taken during Oct. 29.177-29.217 UT as part of the U.K.
Nova/Supernova Patrol.  The star is also present at a similar
brightness on an image taken by Boles on Oct. 30.177.  N. D. James,
Chelmsford, provides the following astrometry for SN 1997dn from
Boles' discovery image:  R.A. = 10h54m18s.95, Decl. = +27o14'07".3
(equinox 2000.0), which is about 35" west and 20" south of the
center of NGC 3451.  No star is present at this location on a
master CCD image of NGC 3451 taken on 1997 May 31 by Boles.
     S. Jha, P. Garnavich, P. Challis, and R. Kirshner, Harvard-
Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, report that a spectrum of SN
1997dn taken by P. Berlind at the Whipple Observatory 1.5-m
telescope on Oct. 30.5 UT indicates that it is a type-II supernova
after maximum.  A prominent P-Cyg profile of H-alpha is visible,
with a photospheric expansion velocity (measured from peak to
trough) of 6500 km/s.  Also present in the spectrum are H-beta,
H-gamma, He I (587.5 nm), and Fe II.  The redshift of the host
galaxy is 1300 km/s, measured from narrow H-alpha emission.
IAUC 6763

Many congratulations to Tom on this fine piece of work. We now
have three UK Supernova Discoverers (Mark Armstrong, Stephen Laurie
and Tom). Just over a year ago we had none!
Guy, Tom and the UK Supernova Patrol have received congratulations
from Brian Marsden and Michael Schwarz..........M.M. (Assistant Ed)

SUPERNOVA 1997di IN UGC 4015
     Y. L. Qiu, Q. Y. Qiao, W. D. Li, and J. Y. Hu, Beijing
Astronomical Observatory (BAO); and A. Esamdin, Urumqi Astronomical
Station, on behalf of the BAO supernova survey, report the
discovery of a supernova (mag about 18.1) on an unfiltered CCD
frame taken with the BAO 0.6-m reflector on Oct. 27.9 UT.  SN
1997di is located at R.A. = 7h47m44s.45, Decl. = +62o19'39".2
(equinox 2000.0), which is 29" west and 11" north of the nucleus
IAUC 6762

SUPERNOVAE
     The EROS Team (cf. IAUC 6605, 6628, 6760) reports their
discovery of four apparent supernovae on images obtained with the
1-m Marly telescope at the European Southern Observatory:

SN       1997 UT      R.A. (2000.0) Decl.      V     Offset
1997dj   Oct. 24    1 14 40.97  -40 35 51.1   22     3".6 E, 3".0 S
1997dk   Oct. 26   23 43 38.69  -41 19 25.4   18.7   8".4 W, 7".2 S
1997dl   Oct. 26   23 43 38.48  -41 19 20.0   19.5   10".8 W, 1".8 S
1997dm   Oct. 26    0 30 12.83  -41 06 08.9   20.3   5".7 E, 2".7 S

SNe 1997dk and 1997dl are in the same galaxy.  SN 1997dj is
apparently still rising in brightness.  Previous images of these
galaxies obtained on 1996 Nov. 1 show no stars at the offsets noted
above (limiting mag about 22).  All four supernova candidates were
confirmed on images taken on Oct. 27.
IAUC 6762

Martin Mobberley