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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2511      2008 Dec 24 18.46UT
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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CHRISTMAS QUIZ
As is the custom within 'The Astronomer', the Christmas Quiz will be 
issued via these electronic circulars sometime on December 26. In the 
meantime please enjoy a relaxed Christmas Day.

SUPERNOVA 2008hz IN FIELD OF MESSIER 31
Discovery by the Koichi Itagaki of a possible nova or supernova (CBET 
1601):
SN      2008 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2008hz  Nov. 26.94  00 43 18.62  +42 10 14.2  18.2
The new object, was initially designated M31N 2008-11c by the Central 
Bureau. Nothing was visible at this position on an image taken by 
Itagaki on Nov. 5.511 (limiting mag 20.0) or on the Digitised Sky 
Survey.

R. M. Quimby and M. M. Kasliwal, California Institute of
Technology, report that spectroscopy obtained on Dec. 4.22 UT with the 
Double Beam Spectrograph on the Palomar Hale 5-m telescope reveals broad 
absorption features including the Si II 635.5-nm doublet, S II 545.4- 
and 564.0-nm, and Ca II H and K
(among other features) -- consistent with a normal type-Ia supernova 
near maximum light at an approximate redshift of z = 0.07 (i.e., well 
beyond M31).  The supernova designation 2008hz is thus being assigned to 
this object.

H. Yamaoka, Kyushu University, adds that a diffuse object northeast
of 2008hz is probably the host galaxy:  it was catalogued as a 
globular-cluster candidate by Sargent et al. (1977, A.J. 82, 947; "SKHB 
220") and in the Bologna catalogue (Battistini et al. 1987, A.Ap. Suppl. 
67, 447; Galleti et al. 2004, A.Ap. 416, 917; "Bol 469"), but 
spectroscopy has revealed that it is a background galaxy at v_r = 21900 
km/s (Galleti et al. 2006, A.Ap. 456, 985); Yamaoka notes that this 
recession velocity is coincident with that of Quimby and Kasliwal, 
above.

SUPERNOVA 2008hv in NGC 2765
Further to the discovery note on TA E-Circular 2509, G. Folatelli and F. 
Forster, on behalf of the Carnegie Supernova Project and Millennium 
Center for Supernova Studies collaboration, report that they obtained a 
spectrum with the New Technology Telescope (+ EFOSC2) at La Silla on 
Dec. 10.2-10.3 UT. This showed 2008hv to be a type-Ia supernova at about 
one week before maximum light.

Guy M Hurst, Basingstoke, confirms the expected brightening since 
discovery. Photometry of an unfiltered image of 60-sec exposure with the 
Bradford Robotic Telescope on Dec 22.221UT yielded a magnitude of 15.1 
(+/-0.1 due to the sequence uncertainty) compared with the discovery 
magnitude of 16.8.

SUPERNOVA 2008ia IN ESO 125-6
Discovery by the CHASE Project of a possible supernova (CBET 1612):
SN      2008 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2008ia  Dec. 07.27  08 50 35.15  -61 16 40.6  15.1     1.8"W  0.2"N

Guy M Hurst