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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2505      2008 Dec 09 16.55UT
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
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M31N2008-11b - A DWARF NOVA IN OUR GALAXY?
Koichi Itagaki, Japan reports on CBET 1588 discovery of a possible 
bright apparent nova in M31 on unfiltered CCD survey frames taken on 
2008 Nov. 26.498 UT using a 0.60-m f/5.7 reflector. The new object is 
located at:
RA 00h 42m 26.50s DEC +42 15' 36.7"(2000). Nothing is visible at this 
position on the Digitised Sky Survey (DSS) to limiting magnitude 21. 
Available magnitudes from Itagaki for the apparent nova: 2007 Oct. 
13.635, [20.5; 2008 Nov. 26.498, 19.0; 26.538, 18.8; 26.548, 18.8; 
26.561, 18.6; 26.564,18.5; 26.565, 18.4; 26.581, 18.2; 28.642, 14.5; 
28.643, 14.5; 28.645, 14.6;28.651, 14.5; 28.663, 14.6; 28.714, 14.7; 
28.739, 14.9.  Nakano forwards the following position end figures 
measured by K. Kadota: 26s.51, 36".7 (mag 14.7 on Nov.28.694).  Kadota 
adds that nothing
is visible on a red DSS image from 1989.

M. M. Kasliwal, R. Quimby, S. R. Kulkarni (Caltech) report on ATEL No. 
1867 that they observed M31N2008-11b with the Double Beam Spectrograph 
on the Palomar Hale 5-m telescope on UT Dec 4.221. This spectrum has a 
steep blue continuum, very narrow emission in H-alpha and broad 
absorption in H-beta through at least H-eta. Further, there is a faint 
blue counterpart in SDSS DR Supplement g-band imaging (g=22.8, r > 
23.3). Given the reported peak magnitude of 14.5 (CBET#1588), this 
outburst had an amplitude of >8 mag. We suggest that this optical 
transient is an SU-UMa-like superoutburst in our own galaxy similar to 
HS2219+1824 (Rodriguez-Gil et al 2005).

SUPERNOVA 2008hj IN MCG -02-1-14
Discovery by the Puckett Observatory Supernova Search of a possible 
supernova (CBET 1579):
SN      2008 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2008hj  Nov  20.14  00 04 01.91  -11 10 07.5  17.2     5.3"E,19.9"N

SUPERNOVA 2008hk IN ANONYMOUS GALAXY
Discovery by the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey of a possible 
supernova (CBET 1581):
SN      2008 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2008hk  Nov   6.49  09 12 43.63  +09 55 47.9  16.7     0.1"E, 0.5"N
R. Chornock et. al., University of California, Berkeley, report that 
spectra of Nov. 23 UT using the Kast spectrograph on the Lick 3-m 
telescope, reveal that it is a type-Ia supernova with a best-fit age of 
16 +/- 3 days after maximum light.

V358 LYRAE
Further to the reported outburst on E2501, Gary Poyner, Birmingham, 
England reports the object has re-brightened:
Dec 5.874 19.55C
     7.878 17.28C
Bradford Robotic Telescope

Guy M Hurst