Circular No. 8013 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html ISSN 0081-0304 Phone 617-495-7440/7244/7444 (for emergency use only) COMET C/2002 V2 (LINEAR) An apparently asteroidal object discovered by LINEAR (discovery observation below) and posted on the NEO Confirmation Page has been found to have cometary appearance. M. Tichy found a compact 6" coma on KLENOT images taken at Klet on Nov. 7.13 UT. Images taken by P. R. Holvorcem and M. Schwartz with the Tenagra 0.81-m reflector on Nov. 7.4 and 8.4 show the object diffuse with a coma diameter of about 8". 2002 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. m2 Nov. 5.31161 5 41 06.16 +10 31 54.8 18.6 Additional astrometry, the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2002-V48. T = 2003 Jan. 10.559 TT Peri. = 304.195 Node = 19.392 2000.0 q = 6.94322 AU Incl. = 166.881 SUPERNOVAE 2002gx, 2002hu, AND 2002hv T. Matheson, P. Challis, and R. Kirshner, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, report that a spectrum (range 370-750 nm) of SN 2002hu (cf. IAUC 8012), obtained by L. Macri on Nov. 8.80 UT with the Mt. Hopkins 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST), shows it to be a type-Ia supernova before maximum. Narrow H-alpha emission from a nearby H II region indicates a recession velocity of about 11000 km/s for the host galaxy. The expansion velocity derived from the minimum of the Si II line (rest 635.5 nm) is about 10500 km/s. The spectral-feature age of the supernova is 5 +/- 2 days before maximum light. A spectrum of SN 2002hv (cf. IAUC 8012), obtained by P. Berlind on Nov. 9.49 with the same telescope, shows it to be a type-Ia supernova a few weeks past maximum. A. V. Filippenko, R. Chornock, and S. Jha, University of California, Berkeley; and B. Barris, University of Hawaii, report that inspection of CCD spectra (range 310-1000 nm), obtained on Nov. 8 UT with the Keck I 10-m telescope (+ LRIS), finds that SN 2002gx (IAUC 7995) is of type Ia, about 2 months past maximum brightness. The redshift of the host galaxy is roughly 0.08. SN 2002hu is also of type Ia, a few days before maximum brightness. Once again, from a comparison of supernova spectra, the redshift of the host galaxy is about 0.03. SN 2002hv is also of type Ia, about 2 months past maximum. (C) Copyright 2002 CBAT 2002 November 9 (8013) Daniel W. E. Green