Circular No. 3556 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. TWX 710-320-6842 ASTROGRAM CAM Telephone 617-864-5758 COMET PANTHER (1980u) S. W. Milbourn, British Astronomical Association, cables that a comet was discovered by Roy W. Panther, of Walgrave, near Northampton, on Dec. 25, and that the comet was confirmed later the same evening by M. J. Hendrie and G. E. D. Alcock. The following observations are available: 1980 UT R. A. (1950) Decl. m1 Observer Dec. 25.788 18 46.7 +38 54 10 Panther 27.96 18 48.0 +39 26 9.7 Morris R. W. Panther (Walgrave). Object diffuse with condensation. C. S. Morris (Harvard, MA). Coma diameter 2'.3 (0.25-m reflector), more-or-less stellar Condensation offset toward p.a. 230o. SUPERNOVA IN NGC 1316 V. M. Blanco, Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, communicates: "The supernova in NGC 1316 (IAUC 3548) has been confirmed by F. Schweizer with 4-m prime-focus plates taken on Dec. 11.2 UT. The supernova is of type I, with a spectrum showing strong P-Cyg-type emission lines centered at 395, 460 and 520 nm and a strong absorption at 615 nm; this was first established by A. F. J. Moffat on Dec. 11.1 UT with the Yale l-m telescope and image-tube spectrograph and confirmed on subsequent nights by Schweizer, J. A. Baldwin and himself with the l-m and 4-m telescopes. Photoelectric observations by A. U. Landolt and L. P. Connolly give the following preliminary values: Dec. 11.1 UT, V = 12.58, B-V = -0.05; 15.2, 12.42, +0.20. Infrared magnitudes measured by J. A. Hackwell on Dec. 17.2 and 18.2 UT with the 0.5-m telescope are J = 13.4, H = 13.4, K = 13.3, with no sign yet of an infrared excess." J. Koomneef, J. Lub and R. Barbier, European Southern Observatory, provide infrared magnitudes, obtained on Dec. 21.25 and 22.17 UT (no change within the quoted errors) with the 3.6-m telescope: J = 14.23 +/- 0.16, H = 13.62 +/- 0.12, K = 13.41 +/- 0.10 (comparison star HR 2015: J = 3.86, H = 3.74, K = 3.70). UBV photometry with the 0.91-m Dutch telescope gave: Dec. 17.101 UT, V = 12.45, B-V = +0.27; 22.090, V = 12.62, B-V = +0.63, and Walraven colors V-B = 0.255, B-U = 0.327, U-W = 0.64, B-L = 0.120 (units 10 log intensity), indicative of a small Balmer jump, no hydrogen-line absorption and an extremely red ultraviolet continuum. 1980 December 29 (3556) Brian G. Marsden
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