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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1389      1999 Mar 18 19.25UT
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 1999am IN CGCG 60-009
G. Aldering and P. Nugent, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
on behalf of the Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP), report the
discovery of a supernova (unfiltered mag about 17.8) on Feb. 18 UT
as part of a joint collaboration between the SCP and E. Helin,
S. Pravdo, D. Rabinowitz, and K. Lawrence (Near-Earth Asteroid
Tracking project, Jet Propulsion Laboratory).  SN 1999am is located
at R.A. = 8h24m10s.88, Decl. = +12o06'58".6 (2000.0), which is 11"
west of the centre of CGCG 060-009.
IAUC 7122 (extract)

SUPERNOVA 1999an IN IC 755
J. Y. Wei, L. Cao, Y. L. Qiu, Q. Y. Qiao, and J. Y. Hu, Beijing
Astronomical Observatory (BAO), report the discovery by the
BAO Supernova Survey of a supernova (unfiltered mag about 15) with
the 0.6-m telescope at Xinglong Station on Mar. 7.83 UT.  SN 1999an
is located at R.A. = 12h01m10s.5, Decl. = +14o06'11" (2000.0),
close to the nucleus of IC 755.  SN 1999an also appears on
images taken on Jan. 22.85, 26.84, Feb. 7.89, and 15.79.
IAUC 7124 (extract)

SUPERNOVA 1999ao IN ANONYMOUS GALAXY
D. Reiss, University of Washington, and the Mt. Stromlo Abell
Cluster Supernova Search Team report the discovery of a supernova
(V about 18.2, R about 18.4) on a CCD image obtained on Mar. 3 by
S. Sabine with the Mt. Stromlo 1.27-m telescope (+ Macho Camera).
SN 1999ao is located near Abell 3392 at
R.A. = 6h27m26s.37, Decl. = -35o50'24".2 (2000), which is 2".3 west
and 0".9 north of the nucleus of the host galaxy; a nearby star
has position end figures 27s.34, 51'09".3.  SN 1999ao is not
visible on similar frames taken on Jan. 10 (limiting mag 20.5).
CCD UBVRI images obtained at the Cerro Tololo 0.9-m telescope on
Mar. 8 and 9 by L. Germany also show the new star.
IAUC 7124 (extract)

SUPERNOVAE 1999ap, 1999aq, 1999ar IN ANONYMOUS GALAXIES
L. G. Strolger, University of Michigan et.al., report the
discovery of three supernovae in R-band images taken with the Kitt
Peak 0.9-m telescope (+ MOSAIC imager) during their searches on
Feb. 21-25 and Mar. 5-9 UT.
   SN       1999 UT      R.A. (2000.0) Decl.      R
   1999ap   Feb. 20    8 29 47.46  + 4 37 38.5   19.4
   1999aq   Feb. 20    9 35 40.48  - 4 55 23.2   18.8
   1999ar   Mar.  6    9 20 16.00  + 0 33 39.6   19.7
IAUC 7125 (extract)

COMET C/1998 M5 (LINEAR)
Further to the announcement on E1387, the Editor reports that
he recorded the comet near the North Celestial Pole on
1999 Mar 14.9UT using a 50mm f1.8 lens with the Starlight Xpress
MX516 CCD. A two minute undriven exposure showed the comet as
a round diffuse object of magnitude 10.8 and diameter of 2.5'.
This exposure reached magnitude 13.3 (North Polar Sequence) in
skies containing thin haze.

Guy M Hurst