Hi, re: reported magnitudes for SN 1998bn my visual magnitude estimates of 13.5 were determined by comparison to star 'd' which I preliminary assume to be 13.2 v. Star 'd' is positioned 20" S and 1' E of the 99 star shown on the USNO based chart, downloadable from the VSNET database. It could be that star 'd' is somewhat fainter than 13.2, but hopefully not variable!! as I intend to also link my future magnitude observations to it. It's my intention to adjust all my 'old' SN 1998bn estimates in future after an update of the sequences of the region, more specifically a calibration of star 'd'. Regards, Berto Monard Pretoria PS SN 1998bn was definitely brighter than 13.9 at the time of my observations!!! a statement for which I am accepting the risk of being fingerpointed. >>> Taichi Kato <tkato@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp> 04/29 6:15 AM >>> SN1998bn early photometry YYMMDD(UT) mag observer 980428.585 <141 (S. Takahashi) 980428.661 139 (R. Stubbings) 980428.714 134 (B. Monard) 980428.749 135 (B. Monard) 980428.794 135 (B. Monard) 980428.969 139 (J. Carvajal) !