------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1871 2003 Mar 07 19.05UT 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 2003ch in UGC 3787 A LOTOSS discovery of a possible mag 17.4 supernova has been reported on IAUC 8097. The first detection as on 2003 March 21.2UT at: 07h 17m 57.92s DEC +09 41' 34.9" (2000), 5.4"E and 13.4"N of the centre of UGC 3787. SUPERNOVA 2003ci IN UGC 6212 A further LOTOSS supernova discovery has also appeared on the same IAUC. This object, of magnitude 17.5, was also detected on images of 2003 March 21.4UT and is located at: RA 11h 10m 23.83s DEC +04 49' 35.9" (2000) This places the object 11"W and 11.9"S of the centre of UGC 6212. SUPERNOVA 2003cg In NGC 3169 The discovery of this supernova by Ron Arbour was reported on TA E- Circular 1867. Subsequently Peter Meikle, Imperial College, London and others at ESO have reported that a spectrum obtained with the William Herschel Telescope by G. Nelemans on 2003 March 22.9UT shows it to be a highly-reddened 'normal' type-Ia supernova near maximum. IAUC 8099 carries details of a report by Tom Matheson that a spectrum was also obtained by L. Macri on 2003 March 25.3UT showing it to be a highly-reddened, possibly subluminous type-Ia near maximum. We also understand from the Central Bureau that the co-discoverer of this supernova was Kiochi Itagaki and not Itagati as originally announced on IAUCs. TA HQ TELEPHONE We regret that problems announced on E-Circulars 1869 and 1870 continued for about a week with only occasionally dialling tones to enable log-ons to be made. Although no incoming mail has been lost, this has prevented most e-mails being answered and there is a very large backlog. Engineers have not so far traced the cause of the problem but for the last few days the service has returned to normal. We apologise for interruptions to our service and we hope to clear the backlog of messages over the next week. Guy M Hurst