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Dear SN watchers, According to CBET 14, Koichi Itagaki has discovered a relatively bright SN in a nearby galaxy NGC 5303(A). It is turned out to be of type II. The new object was discovered on May 3.496 at mag 15.2 (unfiltered CCD). It is immediately confirmed by R. Kushida and K. Kadota. The position is: R.A. = 13h47m45s.36, +36o18'20".3 (J2000.0), which is about 3" east and 4" north of the nucleus of the host galaxy NGC 5303. It was below mag 19 on Apr. 27. NGC 5303 is a peculiar galaxy with short jets, whose appearance is an early spiral. It makes a pair with NGC 5303B located at 2.8' due south of NGC 5303. CBET 14 describes the host galaxy as "NGC 5303A", but the NED suggests that the appropriate designation would be "NGC 5303". There is a foreground star (or a blob within the galaxy) about 3" north and 8" west of the nucleus, which is brighter than the SN at discovery. Please don't misidentify! The CfA team has revealed that the SN is of type II soon after explosion. The spectrum can be seen at: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/oir/Research/supernova/spectra/sn2003ed-20030505.flm.gif , which shows a blue continuum with a broad H-alpha feature with P-Cyg profile. It can remain at mag 15 for some dozen days, so the follow-up observation of this bright SN is enjoyable. Sincerely Yours, Hitoshi Yamaoka, Kyushu Univ., Japan yamaoka@rc.kyushu-u.ac.jp
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