BAA electronic bulletin No. 00404 -- http://www.britastro.org/
New Bright(ish) Supernova in Galaxy NGC 4088
Guy Hurst (TA Magazine) has recently issued an e-circular (Circular No. 2541) announcing a supernova discovery in galaxy NGC 4088. The SN, discovered by Giovanni Cortini, Italy, has been designated 2009dd and at discovery was at magnitude 13.7. This is relatively bright for a SN, and with the galaxy well placed in Ursa Major is an ideal opportunity for BAA members to monitor its increase or decrease in brightness over the next few nights.
NGC 4088 is a magnitude 10.8 galaxy easily visible in a 20cm telescope although to see the SN will probably require a larger aperture. Imagers should have no trouble capturing the "new" star in a 20cm telescope. Note - galaxy NGC 4085 lies 12 arcmin south of NGC 4088.
The SN lies at RA 12h 05m 33.6s and Dec +50d 32m 20s (2000.0), which puts it 2"W and 5"S of the centre of the galaxy (details taken from TA Circular).
Please forward all images to the Deep Sky Section with full details of equipment, exposure and date/ time.
Stewart Moore
Deep Sky Section Director
Bulletin transmitted on Thu Apr 16 17:15:44 BST 2009
(c) 2009 British Astronomical Association