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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2510      2008 Dec 23 16.40UT
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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V679 CARINAE (= NOVA CARINAE 2008)
Further to the notes on TA E-Circulars 2503 and 2506, N. Samus and E. V. 
Kazarovets report that the GCVS team assigns the designation V679 Car to 
this object.

Further magnitude estimates for V679 Car (via CCD by D. Hanzl, Chile) 
Nov. 25.317, 8.6 (Canon 20Da camera, R channel); 28.313, 7.9; Dec. 
2.241, 8.9 (Canon 300D camera, R). Nothing is visible at this location 
on Hanzl's images from Nov. 22.258-22.266 (limiting mag 12.0) and 
24.268-24.301 (limiting mag 13.9).

Patrick Schmeer, Germany, forwards the following position from C. 
Gualdoni:
RA 11h 13m 53.79s DEC -61 13' 48.2" (2000); Schmeer adds that this is 
only 1".4 from a BMW-Chandra source located at position end figures 
53s.66, 49".3.

CMETS 206P/BARNARD-BOATTINI AND 207P/NEAT
Comet P/2008 T3 (Barnard-Boattini) = P/1892 T1 (cf. IAUC 8995) has
been given the permanent designation 206P.
Comet P/2008 T5 (NEAT) = P/2001 J1 (cf. IAUC 8996) has been given the 
permanent designation 207P.

SUPERNOVA 2008hw AND GRB 081007
Discovery by M. Della Valle et. al., of a possible supernova (CBET 
1602):
SN      2008 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2008hw              22 39 50     -40 08'49"
This is coincident with the position of the REM-robotic-telescope 
optical counterpart (Covino et al. 2008, GCN 8331, posted at website URL 
http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn3/8331.gcn3) of GRB 081007 at z = 0.53 
(Berger et al. 2008, GCN 8335).  A preliminary analysis of a 2-hr Very 
Large Telescope FORS2 spectrum obtained at the European Southern 
Observatory (ESO), Paranal, on 2008 Nov. 2
(17 days after the Swift/BAT trigger in the gamma-ray-burst rest-frame), 
reveals -- after subtraction of a starburst galaxy template and redshift 
correction -- broad bumps at about 460, 540, and 640 nm, which are very 
similar to those exhibited by the spectrum of SN 1998bw (Patat et al. 
2001, Ap.J. 555, 900) about one week past maximum.
The photometric follow-up carried out with GROND at the MPI/ESO 2.2-m 
telescope (La Silla, Chile), starting from about 1000 s after the 
Swift/BAT trigger, reveals a flattening starting at about 7 days after 
the gamma-ray burst (rest frame). The broad-band spectral-energy 
distribution at 10 restframe days, constructed with GROND photometric 
measurements, shows a distinctly different shape than at early times; in 
particular, it has a spectral maximum in the i' band, and no detections 
at near-infrared wavelengths, supporting the presence of a supernova 
superposed on the afterglow.

SUPERNOVA 2008hy IN IC 334
Discovery by the Puckett Observatory Supernova Search of a possible 
supernova (CBET 1608):
SN      2008 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2008hy  Dec. 06.22  03 45 08.45  +76 39 55.5  14.3    30  "W,97  "N

Guy M Hurst