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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1250      1997 Nov 06 20.20UT
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 1997dp IN NGC 969
On 1997 November 2, an e-mail was received from Stefano Pesci in
Italy advising us that Denis Christen in France had imaged a
possible supernova in NGC 969 (=Q1997/078) on Nov. 1.1UT. Mark
Armstrong, Assistant Coordinator of the UK Nova/Supernova Patrol
then found the object on an image taken as long ago as
1997 Sept 10 at 02.38UT. This was his first image of the galaxy
and therefore treated as a master without comprehensive checking.
The suspect was then found on later images obtained by Mark on
Sept 28 at 23.50UT and again on Oct 14 at 19.20UT but, as these
had been checked to the Sept 10 master it was not evident earlier
that the object was new as it appeared in all three.

The Editor obtained the discovery image by Denis Christen and
found the object in Mark's images related to the same object. A
request was made for Mark to measure a precise position when it
was established the object was not on the digitised Palomar Sky
Survey and he responded with the following measure of the Sept 10
image:

RA 02h34m06.48s DEC +32 56'13.8"(2000)

The following announcement subsequently appeared in IAUCs:

L. Arnold, Observatoire de Haute-Provence, reports the
discovery of an apparent supernova by Denis Christen, Hesingue,
France, on unfiltered CCD images taken with a 0.3-m telescope on
Nov. 1.10 and 1.93 UT, at magnitudes 17.8 +/- 0.4 and 17.9 +/- 0.4,
respectively.  The supernova is located at R.A. =
2h34m06s.48, Decl. = +32o56'13".4 (equinox 2000.0), which is 22"
west and 36" south of the centre of NGC 969.  The object is absent
from several photographic atlses, including the Digital Sky Survey.
The Nov. 1.10 image (the sum of four 3-min frames; limiting mag
about 20) is available at http://www.obs-hp.fr/~arnold/NGC969.JPG.

G. M. Hurst, Basingstoke, England, reports that prediscovery images
of SN 1997dp (measured position end figures 06s.48, 13".8) were
recognized by M. Armstrong, Rolvenden, Kent, on a 'patrol master'
frame obtained on Sept. 10.1 (mag 16), as well as on frames taken
on Sept. 28 and Oct. 14 (mag about 17).

S. Jha, P. Challis, P. Garnavich, and R. Kirshner, Harvard-
Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, report that SN 1997dp is a
type-Ia supernova, about 6 weeks past maximum, based on a spectrum
taken by Jha and Challis at the Multiple Mirror Telescope on Nov.
4.2 UT.  The spectral features of the supernova are consistent with
the de Vaucouleurs' catalogue recession velocity for NGC 969 of
4500 km/s.

Guy M Hurst