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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2100      2005 Mar 29 18.16UT
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
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POSSIBLE NOVA IN SAGITTARIUS
Independent discoveries of a possible nova in Sagittarius by Hideo 
Nishimura, Japan (Pentax 6x7 camera + 200-mm f/4.0 lens + Kodak T-Max 
film on Mar 28.77 at magnitude 8.7 and by Yukio Sakurai, Japan (CCD 
frames with a Fuji 'Fine Pix S2' digital camera + Nikon 180-mm f/2.8 
lens) on Mar 28.79UT at mag 9.1. Position from latter:
RA 18h 16m 59.04s DEC -25 56' 38.8" (2000).

CATACLYSMIC VARIABLE IN PYXIS = POSSIBLE NOVA IN PYXIS
T. Kawabata et. al., Bisei Astronomical Observatory (BAO); and Hitoshi 
Yamaoka, Kyushu University, have reported on IAUC 8496 (cf TA E-Circular 
2095) that inspection of a low-dispersion spectrogram of the object in 
Pyxis with the BAO 1.01-m telescope on Mar. 18.61 UT. shows a blue 
continuum with wide absorption of H_beta and
H_gamma.  The H_alpha feature is not clear, probably because the
emission fills up the absorption. This suggests that the object is not a 
classical nova, but rather a dwarf nova in outburst.

SUPERNOVA 2005at IN NGC 6744
Discovery by R. Martin and independently by Berto Monard of a possible 
supernova (IAUC 8496):
SN      2005 UT        R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.   Mag.     Offset
2005at  Mar. 15.83   19 09 53.62  -63 49 24.1 16.0   46"E, 117"N
Position by R. Martin and offsets from Berto Monard.

V382 NORMAE = NOVA NORMAE 2005
N. N. Samus and E. Kazarovets, Institute of Astronomy,
Russian Academy of Sciences, advises that the designation V382 Nor has 
been given to this nova (cf E-Circular 2096).

A. Ederoclite et. al., European Southern Observatory (ESO), report 
spectroscopic confirmation with the 3.6-m ESO telescope (+ HARPS; range 
380-690 nm; resolution 100000).  The nova appears dominated by very 
strong H_alpha emission according to a report on IAUC 8497.

SUPERNOVA 2005av IN NGC 6943
Discovery by Berto Monard of a possible supernova (IAUC 8499):
SN      2005 UT        R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.   Mag.     Offset
2005av  Mar. 24.07   20 44 37.58  -68 45 10.6 15.4   22"E, 18"S
SN 1998ew also occurred in this galaxy.

SUPERNOVA 2005aw IN IC 4837A
Discovery by C. Jacques and E. Pimentel of a possible supernova (IAUC 
8499):
SN      2005 UT        R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.   Mag.     Offset
2005aw  Mar. 24.27   19 15 17.44  -54 08 24.9 15.3   13"E, 30"S

SUPERNOVA 2005ax IN NGC 1544
Discovery by T. Puckett and D. George of a possible supernova (IAUC 
8499):
SN      2005 UT        R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.   Mag.     Offset
2005ax  Mar. 26.12   05 02 38.11  +86 13 22.2 14.5   2"E,  2"N

SUPERNOVA 2005ay IN NGC 3938
Discovery by D. Rich of a possible supernova (IAUC 8500):
SN      2005 UT        R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.   Mag.     Offset
2005ay  Mar. 27.08   11 52 48.07  +44 06 18.4 15.6  15"W, 56"S

Guy M Hurst