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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2447      2008 May 17 14.50UT
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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V838 MON-TYPE TRANSIENT IN NGC 300
H. E. Bond, Space Telescope Science Institute, F. M. Walter (Stony Brook 
U.), and J. Velasquez (CTIO) have e-mailed the following report:

A bright variable star at: RA 00h 54m 34.16s DEC -37 38' 28.6" (2000) 
has appeared in the Sculptor Group galaxy, which is 227" west and 153" 
north of the core of NGC 300. It was reported on the CBAT Unconfirmed 
Observations Page by Berto Monard of South Africa, with the following 
unfiltered CCD magnitudes:
2008 Apr. 24.16, 16.5; May 14.14, 14.2;15.14, 14.2.

The star is not visible on DSS images to limiting mag 20.5. A spectrum 
(resolution 17.2 A), obtained on 2008 May 15.4 with the
SMARTS 1.5-m telescope at Cerro Tololo, shows emission lines of H-alpha, 
H-beta, the Ca II triplet 8542-8498-8662, and, remarkably, strong 
emission at the forbidden [Ca II] doublet 7291-7323. Ca II H & K are 
seen in absorption. The Balmer lines are only slightly resolved at the 
790 km/s velocity resolution of the spectra. The mean heliocentric 
radial velocity of the features is about +430 km/s, probably consistent 
with membership in NGC 300.

At an optical absolute magnitude of -12.5, the object is photometrically 
and spectroscopically not a classical nova, LBV, or supernova. The 
spectrum is fairly similar to that of V838 Mon on 2002 Feb 13 
(Wisniewski et al. 2003, ApJ, 588, 486, Fig 5), an object suggested to 
represent the collision or merger of two stars. We urge continued 
spectroscopic and photometric monitoring.

Matthew Templeton, adds on AAVSO Special Notice #110, that this object 
has been added to AAVSO VSX with the names:
"VSX J005434.1-373828" and "VAR SCL 2008".

A sequence has been added for this star, and charts are now available 
via VSP:
http://www.aavso.org/observing/charts/vsp/index.html?pickname=Var%20Scl%2
02008

Guy M Hurst