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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1591      2000 Dec 22 16.55UT
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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COMET 41P/TUTTLE-GIACOBINI-KRESAK (Q2000/329)
This comet appears brighter than expected judging by the following
estimates on IAUCs:
2000 Dec. 5.82UT, 11.1 (S. Yoshida, Ibaraki, Japan, 0.25-m
reflector; visual); 6.52, 11.4 (A. Hale, Cloudcroft, New Mexico,
0.41-m reflector; visual); 15.83, 8.7 (K. Kadota, Ageo, Saitama,
Japan, 0.18-m reflector + CCD; 3' coma and 16' tail).
IAUC 7543

Andrew Pearce, Nedlands, Australia has reported direct to TA
confirming the outburst:

Dec 18.82UT: m1=8.0, coma=2.7', DC=4/...20cm refl (45x)
Andrew Pearce (Nedlands, Western Australia)
Moderately condensed object, easily seen despite the brighter sky
from moonlight


SUPERNOVAE 2000ff-2000fl
L.-G. Strolger reports the discovery of seven additional apparent
supernovae by the Nearby Galaxies Supernova Search team.  Direct
confirmations were made by Strolger and R. C. Smith (Kitt Peak
0.9-m telescope) on Nov. 11-19 and 22 and by P. Candia (Cerro
Tololo 0.9-m telescope) on Nov. 18 and 19.

SN      2000 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.     R       Offset
2000ff  Nov. 14    0 45 24.72   - 3 16 47.2   19.5   3" E, 0".2 N
2000fg  Nov. 16    1 24 31.36   -10 23 46.2   18.8   1".2 W, 0".8 S
2000fh  Nov. 16    4 40 28.66   - 5 10 07.7   20.1   2".8 W, 0".3 N
2000fi  Nov.  9   21 52 57.14   - 6 32 53.9   18.2   0".8 E, 2".1 N
2000fj  Nov. 13   22 08 52.31   - 4 41 39.5   19.0   0".2 E, 2".0 S
2000fk  Nov. 14   23 36 26.00   - 0 23 17.6   20.1   0".2 E, 1".6 N
2000fl  Nov. 18   23 46 19.57   - 6 31 03.9   19.8   2".1 W, 1".4 S
IAUC 7543 (extract)

SUPERNOVA 2000fm IN NGC 1612
Michael Schwartz, Cottage Grove, OR; and W. D. Li and A. V.
Filippenko, University of California at Berkeley, on behalf of
LOTOSS, report the discovery of an apparent supernova with the
0.5-m Tenagra III automated telescope.  The object was discovered
and confirmed on unfiltered images taken on Dec. 14.3 (mag about
17.7) and 15.2 UT (mag about 17.0).  SN 2000fm is located at
R.A. = 4h33m15s.00, Decl. = -4 10'39".5 (2000.0), which is 24".1
east and 19".0 south of the nucleus of NGC 1612.
IAUC 7545 (extract)

Guy M Hurst