[ngcles]

Hi All,

Bob Evans has seemingly done it again!

I received an email from Brian Skiff this morning on another mailing list who alerts southern observers that CBET circular 1065 announces the discovery of a possible supernova in the relatively nearby spiral NGC 5530 in Lupus. The discovery was by Rev Bob Evans (his forty-somethingth? -- I've lost count).

Evans puts the magnitude at +13.5 -- likely within visual reach of 10-12" 'scopes (maybe even 8"??). A CCD image position by Steve Quirk places the candidate at 14 18 27.92 -43 23 12.9 (J2000). This is 24" west and 25" north of the galaxy nucleus in the NW end of the halo.

As noted by Brian Skiff, there is a well known superimposition star on the face of the galaxy at a similar distance from the core but to the NE. That star has a V mag of 12.1 -- so it is likely somewhat brighter than the supernova candidate at this stage.

Looking back on an old 10" observation I made nearly 10 years ago from suburbia, that superimposition star is pretty easy to see, the galaxy has quite low surface brightness, and appears about 2.5' x 1.5' in PA 135. NGC 5530 is only about 1 degree NW from the bright, interesting PNe IC 4406, near the Lupus-Centaurus border.

The new object is yet to be confirmed as a supernova so its type at this stage is not known. Obviously at this stage it is also unknown whether it will get brighter or is already on the fade.

Congratulations Bob!!

Les Dalrymple
Contributing Editor AS&T