------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2555 2009 May 30 16.07UT 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- V5582 SAGITTARII = NOVA SAGITTARII 2009 No. 2 Guoyou Sun, and Xing Gao of China report on CBET 1816 their discovery of a possible nova of magnitude 11.5 on several 60-s survey images taken by Gao in the course of the Xingming Nova Survey (Mt. Nanshan) on 2009 Feb. 23.947-23.963 UT with a Canon EOS 350D camera + 135-mm f/2 lens at ISO 800. Using a 10.7-cm f/2.8 camera lens, their images taken during Feb. 27.96-Mar. 6.97 yield the following position: RA 17h 45m 05.42s DEC -20 03' 22.0" (2000); an image obtained on Apr. 28 by Sun with a 1-m f/8 reflector yields position end figures 05s.40, 21".5. Nothing was visible at this location on images taken by the discoverers on 2008 Aug. 23, Sept. 4, 25, and Oct. 3 (limiting mag presumably also about 13.5) nor onDigitised Sky Survey images from 1950 June 19 (limiting red mag 20.0), 1980 Aug. 2 (limiting infrared mag 19.5), and 1991 Aug. 2 (limiting red mag 20.8). Additional available magnitudes from Sun and Gao for the variable: Feb. 27.960, 12.1; 28.968, 12.0; Mar. 2.963, 13.0; 3.964, 12.8; 6.968, 13.1; 22.949, 11.6; 26.950, 12.1; 27.947, 12.5; Apr.28.837, 13.2. K. Nishiyama and F. Kabashima, Japan report the following magnitudes from their CCD frames taken with a patrol camera (+ 106-mm-f.l. f/4 lens; limiting mag 12.9-13.8) in February and with a 40-cm reflector afterwards: Feb. 20.855, 10.9; 25.847, 10.4; 28.859, 11.4; Mar. 14.860, 13.2; May 19.665,14.0; 22.728, 13.7. Giovanni Sostero, Ernesto Guido, and Paul Camilleri advise that they obtained position end figures 05s.42, 22".0 and magnitudes R = 12.2, B = 13.8 from images obtained remotely on Mar. 13.44 with a 25-cm f/3.4 reflector at the GRAS Observatory Mayhill. K. Kinugasa, S. Honda, and O. Hashimoto, Gunma Astronomical Observatory (GAO); and Y. Takeda, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, obtained a low-resolution spectrum using the GAO 1.5-m telescope (+ GLOWS) on May 26.7 UT, which shows strong emission lines of Balmer series, [O III], [N II], and He I -- suggesting that the object is a classical nova well past maximum. N. Samus of the GCVS team has assigned the designation V5582 Sgr to this nova. GRB 090530A BRIGHT OPTICAL COUNTERPART H. Flewelling (IfA), B. E. Schaefer (Louisiana State), Shashi Pandey (UMich) report on GCN 9439 and on behalf of the ROTSE collaboration: ROTSE-IIIb, located at McDonald Observatory, Texas, responded to GRB 090530A (Swift trigger 353567). The first image was at 03:18:35.8 UT, 17.4 s after the burst. The unfiltered images are calibrated relative to USNO A2.0. We detect a new object of magnitude 16.0, not visible in the DSS (second epoch), with coordinates: RA 11h 57m 40.5s DEC +26 35' 37.9" (2000) A jpeg image is available at http://www.rotse.net/images/gsb353567_3b00_img.jpg Note that the object marked 48 is the candidate in question. Guy M Hurst