[vsnet-chat 585] Re: Comment on IAUC 6737

[Taichi Kato <tkato@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp>]

Dear Dr. Masrden,

   My opinion is almost completely contrary to yours, esp. in the cases
of novae.  I do not so insist on SNe, since may early nowadays SNe have
been discovered by dedicated professional telescopes -- SN 1993J and
SN 1994I may exceptions, but most novae have been discovered only by
amateurs.  Therefore special attention should be paid to nova discoveries,
if you really wish the future development of this field of astronomy.
Discovery claims for novae, SNe and solar system objects should not be
equally treated and burdened for confirmation.

   I know many cases (in Japan) waiting another night to confirm alleged
novae resulting in a significant delay of early stage observations.
Of course, there do exist many inexperienced false alarms, but are often
quite easy for field astronomers to assess by themselves and neglect.
I do think the same criteria for those inexperienced alerts should not
be equally imposed on more experienced ones.  Points 2 and 4 should be
carefully reconsidered in such cases.  Given the small number of novae
discovered each year, early alarms (even if sometimes contaminated by
false ones) are quite essential for researchers of this field.

   I don't think it adequate to assume reports are referring to minor
planets etc. before reliable (point 2 and/or 4) confirmation is achieved.
There is another solution, in the meantime, to make these discovery
claims open to the public (not necessarily on IAUCs), and wait for the
earliest necessary confirmation enough to register a new object.
Observers who do no want to waste time for false alarms have only to
wait for other person's confirmation.  Is there any problem in this strategy?

   Considering the increasing number of small observatories equipped with
spectroscopic apparatus, it would not be wise to leave the fate of
discovories (esp. novae) to a small subgroup of spectroscopists who may
not always be as enthusiastic or as interested as specialized researchers.

   In this sense, the ISN is doing an excellent job.  Hope these people
not be unnecessarily discouraged.

Regards,
Taichi Kato

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