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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2365      2007 Aug 11 16.00UT
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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NOVA VULPECULAE 2007
C. Buil, Castanet, France, writes on IAUC 8862 that a spectrogram of the 
possible nova reported on TA E-Circular 2364, obtained on Aug. 9.91 UT 
with a 0.28-m telescope (+ Lhires spectrograph; resolution 6800 at 
H_alpha), shows evident H_alpha with a deep P-Cyg profile and a FWHM of 
1750 km/s (+/- 80 km/s); the intensity of the H_alpha peak intensity is 
2.4 times that of the local 670-nm continuum.

M. Fujii, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan, reports that a low-dispersion 
spectrogram (range 375-833 nm; resolution about 1 nm) of the apparent 
nova was obtained on Aug. 9.48 UT with a 0.28-m reflector; the spectrum 
shows H_alpha, H_beta, H_gamma, and He I 447.2-, 471.3-,492.2-, 501.5-, 
587.6-, 667.8-, and 706.5-nm emissions with P-Cyg profiles (H_alpha FWHM 
= 1900 km/s).  These emissions suggest that the variable is indeed a 
classical nova.

Editor: A chart to FINDERS format was also issued on 2007 August 10 via 
Charts and Sequences Notes No 0126. A WORD version with a preliminary 
sequence is also available via e-mail from the editor on request.

SUPERNOVA 2007gi IN NGC 4036
Discovery by K. Itagaki, Japan of a possible supernova (CBET 1017):
SN      2006 UT      R.A.  (2000.0)  Decl.    Mag.     Offset
2007gi  Jly  31.49  12 01 23.42  +61 53 33.8  16.3   23"  W,11"S
The discovery was made with a 0.60-m f/5.7 reflector on unfiltered CCD 
frames.
Further magnitudes from Itagaki suggest the object is still brightening 
and deserves close monitoring: Aug 1.468UT, 15.9; 2.471, 15.5.

A. Harutyunyan et. al., Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio 
Astronomico di Padova and others report on CBET 1021 that a spectrum 
obtained on Aug. 4.90 UT with the 3.5-m TNG shows it to be a type-Ia 
supernova well before maximum.

PERSEID METEORS 2007
P. Jenniskens, SETI Institute, reports on CBET 1019 that the Perseid 
meteors from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle should peak at ZHR = 80 +/- 20 
meteors/hr on 2007 Aug. 13d 10h UT. Jenniskens adds that a possible 
encounter with a younger filament component is expected around Aug. 
13d04h, with a FWHM = 1.0 hr; this younger filament is an accumulation 
of many trails over a period of time, thought to be dust moving in 
mean-motion resonances and being mostly responsible for the Perseid 
outbursts of the 1989-1997 period.  Peak activity cannot yet be 
predicted reliably.  Also, I. Sato has identified a weak encounter with 
the 1479 dust trail of comet 109P on Aug. 12d22h55m.  E. Lyytinen 
calculates a peak time at Aug. 13d00h27m, while J. Vaubaillon has the 
peak at Aug. 12d22h42m and an estimated duration of FWHM = 0.49 hr. 
Jenniskens estimates a peak rate of only about ZHR = 20 meteors per hour 
for this dust-trail encounter, which occurs on top of the stronger 
annual shower activity.

Guy M Hurst