------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1951 2003 Dec 17 22.11UT 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 2003kw IN UGC 6314 Mark Armstrong, Rolvenden, England, has reported his discovery of a magnitude 18.5 possible supernova in the galaxy UGC 6314 on unfiltered CCD images during searches for the UK Nova/Supernova Patrol on 2003 Dec 7.143UT using a 0.35-m Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The object is located at: RA 11h 18m 12.21s DEC +30 23'41.5" (2000) This is 7.8"E and 1.5"S of the centre of the host galaxy. Mark confirmed the discovery on Dec 8.206UT. He reported on IAUC 8252 that it was not present on his image of April 1 (limiting magnitude 19.5) and was also absent from the Palomar Sky Survey red and blue plates to a limiting magnitude of 20.5. The object has been designated Supernova 2003kw. Congratulations to Mark on the discovery of his 53rd supernova. 2003 EH_1 AND THE QUADRANTIDS P. Jenniskens, NASA, suggests that 2003 EH_1 would seem to be a very strong candidate for the parent of the Quadrantid meteor stream. Recently calculated orbits indicate that frequent approaches within 0.2-0.3 AU of Jupiter occur, those during the past century or two evidently increasing q from just under 1 AU (with other orbital elements also very similar to those of the Quadrantids) to the present 1.19 AU. The current theoretical radiant for 2003 EH_1 (R.A. = 229.9 deg, Decl. = +49.6 deg) is at the centre of the Quadrantid radiants measured by photographic means. Hasegawa earlier suggested C/1490 Y1 might be the parent comet so further investigations are underway according to notes on IAUC 8252 to see if the orbits of C/1490 Y1 and 2003 EH_1 can be linked. Guy M Hurst