[vsnet-chat 739] on supernova queries

[Taichi Kato <tkato>]

   Regarding the confirming process of the supernova suspect in NGC 4478,
Dr. Brian Marsden asked me whether it did work out, and why I didn't
follow his recommendation in IAUC 6737.

   The answer is simple.  It _did_ work out: the nature of the suspect was
confirmed within half revolution of the earth with the help of our world-wide
colleagues.

   I express sincere thanks to those who shared the process, and posted
important information.  Thanks to the early notification, the observers in
Japan, including Tanabe's group, could well prepare the rise of the galaxy,
and they soon realized there were two stellar objects which apparently need
more examination.  Previous images were searched, again with the strong
assistance of the VSNET people.  Both stellar images were found to be present
on previous images (the one close to the nucleus had to be confirmed to
be preexisting by using WFPC2 public library by Tanabe's group); one of the
candidates was examined spectroscopically by Ayani (Bisei Observatory) --
if it were an actual supernova, the data should have been of utmost
importance.

   We believe the presence of alerts in public form is essential for studying
the early stages of supernovae and novae, and encourage observers not to
hesitate in submitting the queries.  We are not discouraged even if these
queries turn out to be false alarms, and are well prepared to easily testable
targets.  There being no Japanese professional astromers on Marsden's alert
list, the query on NGC 4478, if submitted otherwise, had no chance to be
observed in Japan at that early epoch.

Regards,
Taichi Kato

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