-------------------------------------------------------------------
THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2476      2008 Aug 26 18.08UT
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      Backup: gmh@wdcc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk
WORLD WIDE WEB                         http://www.theastronomer.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 ED_69 AND KAPPA CYGNIDS
P. Jenniskens, SETI Institute, suggests on CBET 1453 that the steeply 
inclined (i = 36.3 deg) and intrinsically bright (H = 16.7) minor planet 
2008 ED_69 is likely a fragment that remained after formation of the 
kappa Cygnids, known from its common bright meteors seen in August.  J. 
Vaubaillon (California Institute of Technology) has developed a 
meteoroid-stream model with ejecting dust in 4000 BC, 2000 BC, and 1 AD 
from the backward-integrated 38-day orbit of 2008 ED_69, demonstrating 
that the dispersion of particles in earth orbit is in good agreement 
with observations if the stream was formed around 4000-1600 BC.

THE EDGAR WILSON AWARD 2008
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory announces on IAUC 8962 that 
the 2008 Edgar Wilson Award for the discovery of comets (cf. IAUC 6936, 
8854) is being divided among the following two individuals for the 
discovery of C/2008 C1:  Tao Chen (Suzhou City, Jiangsu province, China) 
and Xing Gao (Urumqi, Xinjiang province, China).

CI CYGNI
Guy Hurst, Basingstoke reports a rare outburst of the symbiotic variable 
star CI Cygni.
Visual estimates (0.44-m refl.): 2008 Aug 7.89UT, 11.4; 12.90, 11.3; 
22.90, 10.5; 24.88, 10.2
Photometry (V) with the Bradford Robotic Telescope:
2008 Aug 25.97UT, 9.95V (+/-0.05).

SUPERNOVA 2008eq IN ANONYMOUS GALAXY
Discovery by LOSS of a possible supernova (CBET 1460):
SN      2008 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2008eq  Aug  02.23  17 00 07.20  +23 07 56.6  18.7     6.0"E, 3.4"N

SUPERNOVA 2008es IN ANONYMOUS GALAXY
Discovery by ROTSE of a possible supernova (CBET 1462):
SN      2008 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2008es  Apr  26.23  11 56 49.13  +54 27 25.7  17.8      -      -
R. Chornock, et. al., University of California, Berkeley, report on 
further spectroscopic observations at Keck on Aug. 3.25 UT.  The initial 
observations showed a blue and largely featureless pectrum, but at later 
epochs several unidentified weak spectral features appeared. Analysis 
shows it as a type-II supernova with  a best-fit redshift of z = 0.206 
+/- 0.005.  At this redshift, the peak apparent optical magnitude of 
around 17.8 corresponds to an absolute magnitude of M_V less-than- 
or-equal-to -22.2, making this object ONE OF THE MOST LUMINOUS 
SUPERNOVAE EVER OBSERVED.

Guy M Hurst