Circular No. 8294
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
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COMET C/2004 D1 (NEAT)
     An apparently asteroidal object reported by the NEAT project
(discovery observation below), and posted on the NEO Confirmation
Page, has been found to show apparent cometary appearance on CCD
images taken by J. Ticha and M. Tichy (Klet, Feb. 20.8 UT; diffuse
with a faint coma of diameter 10" and a possible tail in p.a. 225
deg) and by P. Birtwhistle (Great Shefford, Berkshire, U.K., Feb.
22.8 and 23.8; somewhat larger and less concentrated than stars of
similar brightness, with a coma diameter of 9"-10", slightly
extended in p.a. 270 deg).

     2004 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.
     Feb. 17.12122    3 42 57.50   +24 35 15.4   19.8

     Additional astrometry, the following parabolic orbital
elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2004-D44.

     T = 2006 Feb. 11.605 TT          Peri. =  75.064
                                      Node  =  62.234   2000.0
     q = 5.01497 AU                   Incl. =  45.544


SUPERNOVA 2004Z IN MCG +10-19-85
     R. Ellis, California Institute of Technology (CIT); M.
Sullivan, University of Toronto; P. Nugent, Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory; and A. Gal-Yam, CIT, report that a CCD
spectrum (range 360-950 nm) of SN 2004Z (cf. IAUC 8290), obtained
on Feb. 22 UT with the Keck-I 10-m reflector (+ LRIS), reveals it
to be a relatively young type-II supernova, featuring a blue
continuum with strong P-Cyg profiles of the hydrogen Balmer lines
as well as He I (587.6 nm).  The maximum velocity of H_alpha in SN
2004Z is approximately 10000 km/s.


BZ URSAE MAJORIS
     E. Waagen, AAVSO, reports an outburst of BZ UMa, the first
since Dec. 2002 (when it reached m_v = 11.4 on Dec. 19 before
declining to mag 14.5 by Dec. 23), as indicated by the following
magnitude estimates, visual unless otherwise noted: Feb. 23.922 UT,
[14.0 (E. Muyllaert, Oostende, Belgium); 24.138, V = 16.2 (W.
MacDonald, Winchester, Ontario, Canada; CCD); 25.294, 11.6 (M.
Simonsen, Imlay City, MI); 25.813, 11.0 (H. McGee, Guildford,
England); 26.209, 11.5 (R. Smith, W. Kingsdown, England).

                      (C) Copyright 2004 CBAT
2004 February 27               (8294)            Daniel W. E.