Supernova Discovery in NGC 4088‏

Hi,

I observed NGC 4088 and the SN visually last night. I used the 25cm Dobsonian on my new Equatorial Platform. The galaxy was an easy oval, non-uniform with fainter edges. The SN right at the centre was stellar. It looked different from a galatic core. 9mm eyepiece used.

The SN was too faint to estimate with a degree of accuracy, but consistent with reports of 13.5. Good clear (but not the best) night. The near-by NGC galaxy was also visible.

John

Calibos wrote:

Theres a very good reason why the Japanese and Australians bag so many of these:laugh:

Agreed ... with the Japanese, it has also become a sort of cultural thingie as well.

Can you image Grennan speaking Japanese with an Irish accent?! :laugh:

Anthony.

ayiomamitis wrote:

Agreed ... with the Japanese, it has also become a sort of cultural thingie as well.

Can you image Grennan speaking Japanese with an Irish accent?! :laugh:

Anthony.

Ogenki desu ka.....Bud! :laugh:

Think I may have just about seen this last night. My 16" Lightbridge is in pieces at the moment being transformed into Knightrider, so I had to use my Orion XT12i (12") Dob. I was waiting for a post by Michael Murphy organising an SDAS seesion up at Ballyremon but alas it never materialised so I had given up hope of seeing this before it fades as there are streetlights within feet out front of my house and I thought I couldn't get the XT12i out into the small dark back yard till the house is renovated as the base is 30" tall with a 26" diameter base and the current door is 22". Well I decided to give it a try and amazingly I was able to tilt and rotate the base through the door in the end. Scope cooled down for a few hours and I headed out about 10pm. Although the yard is dark I am limited to 50º or higher by high walls. Luckily for me UMA was at zenith. However transparency was dreadful.

That said after I located the object with my scopes DSC I could just about make out a faint elongated smudge with direct vision matching the position of NGC4088 in relation to those stars in Johns pic. With averted vision I am pretty sure I saw a faint 'Stellar Nucleus'

So the question is, does 4088 have a stellar nucleus or did I in fact see the supernova with averted??

Tis a pity though, I would have loved to have been able to use the 16" on this and use it up in Ballyremon. Fingers crossed I can break in the new scope with another extra galactic supernova in the next few months. Of course an intra-galactic supernova would be amazing but lets be honest, the odds of that are slim and even if the old Girl the Milkyway, beat the odds, it'll be a Southern Hemisphere Supernova and the Aussies will get another one over on us!!

Keith,

This SN will persist for a while yet. Estimated magnitudes from last night were still around 13.8
Given the spread of reported magnitudes so far it is likely that there is little change. I would guess this could be around for a while yet. Don't stop trying to see it.

There isn't really much of a (bright)core to NGC4088, just a handful of very bright stars. The SN is easily outshining everything else, so if you saw a stellar point in the centre then I think you can be sure that at least most of the photons came from the SN.

John,

Thanks for the encouraging news. I have been clouded out for a few days and predictions suggest Friday as the first day this week with clear skies.

This is a neat opportunity for first light for my Mewlon 210. It has already been collimated and all I need now is a small window of opportunity to set it loose.

Thanks again.

Anthony.

PS. I should mention that for anyone interested in Arps, this one fits the bill .... Arp 18!