------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1740 2002 Feb 03 16.22UT 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.theastronomer.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- SUPERNOVA 2002aq IN MCG -01-7-35 A further LOTOSS discovery has been announced by P. Martin and W. D. Li on IAUC 7813. The supernova, of magnitude 18.7, was recorded by KAIT on exposures of Feb 1 and 2. The location is: RA 02h 41m 57.44s DEC -06 47' 46.4" (2000), 7.3"E and 14.2"S of the galaxy MCG -01-7-35. COMET C/2002 C1 (IKEYA-ZHANG) The above designation has been given to the comet whose discovery details appeared on TA E-Circular 1739. Andrew Pearce, Australia, has e-mailed us with an observation made on 2002 Feb 2.53UT: m1=9.1, Dia=3', DC=3. (0.20-m refl, x45). Estimated Position Feb 2.526 UT: RA 0h 10.9m Dec -17 05'. Easily visible object even at low altitude with only a slight degree of condensation. Nick Brown, Quinns Rocks, Western Australia, relays via Andrew Pearce, his visual observation with a 0.15-m refractor: 2002 Feb 2.53UT: m1=8.5, Dia=5', DC=2 The following elements by Dan Green appeared on IAUC 7813: T = 2002 Mar. 8.912 TT Peri. = 19.237 Node = 111.715 2000.0 q = 0.49127 AU Incl. = 26.341 Ephemeris by G.Hurst using EPH.EXE by Nick James: m = 8.5 + 5.0 log R + 10.0 log r Date R.A. (2000) Dec. R r Elong Mag. Motion h m o ' (AU) (AU) o "/hr P.A. 2002 Feb 1.00 0 8.31 -17 50.4 1.335 0.951 45.4 8.9 92 39 2.00 0 9.93 -17 21.5 1.321 0.934 44.9 8.8 94 39 3.00 0 11.58 -16 51.8 1.307 0.916 44.4 8.7 96 38 4.00 0 13.25 -16 21.5 1.293 0.899 43.9 8.6 97 38 5.00 0 14.93 -15 50.5 1.279 0.882 43.5 8.5 99 38 6.00 0 16.62 -15 18.8 1.264 0.864 43.0 8.4 101 37 7.00 0 18.33 -14 46.3 1.249 0.847 42.5 8.3 103 37 8.00 0 20.05 -14 12.9 1.234 0.830 42.1 8.1 105 37 9.00 0 21.77 -13 38.8 1.218 0.813 41.6 8.0 107 36 10.00 0 23.51 -13 3.7 1.203 0.796 41.2 7.9 109 36 11.00 0 25.24 -12 27.7 1.186 0.779 40.7 7.8 111 35 12.00 0 26.98 -11 50.8 1.170 0.763 40.3 7.7 113 34 13.00 0 28.71 -11 12.8 1.153 0.746 39.9 7.5 115 33 14.00 0 30.43 -10 33.8 1.136 0.730 39.4 7.4 117 33 15.00 0 32.14 -9 53.6 1.119 0.714 39.0 7.3 120 32 16.00 0 33.83 -9 12.3 1.101 0.698 38.5 7.1 122 31 17.00 0 35.50 -8 29.7 1.083 0.682 38.1 7.0 124 30 18.00 0 37.13 -7 45.9 1.065 0.667 37.7 6.9 126 28 19.00 0 38.73 -7 0.7 1.046 0.651 37.2 6.7 129 27 20.00 0 40.28 -6 14.1 1.027 0.637 36.8 6.6 131 26 21.00 0 41.77 -5 26.0 1.008 0.622 36.3 6.5 134 24 22.00 0 43.18 -4 36.4 0.988 0.608 35.8 6.3 136 22 23.00 0 44.52 -3 45.2 0.969 0.595 35.4 6.2 139 20 24.00 0 45.76 -2 52.3 0.949 0.582 34.9 6.0 141 18 25.00 0 46.89 -1 57.6 0.929 0.570 34.4 5.9 144 16 26.00 0 47.89 -1 1.2 0.909 0.558 33.8 5.8 147 14 27.00 0 48.74 -0 3.0 0.888 0.547 33.3 5.6 151 11 28.00 0 49.42 +0 57.1 0.868 0.537 32.8 5.5 154 8 SUPERNOVA 2002ap IN MESSIER 74 A finders chart for supernova 2002ap, which continues to brighten, has appeared on CSN 107. This is a priority object for which observations are urgently required. Guy M Hurst