Circular No. 8257
 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 P/2003 XD_10 (LINEAR-NEAT)
      An apparently asteroidal object with not-unusual motion
 reported on Dec. 4 and 5 by the LINEAR project, and designated 2003
 XD_10 on MPS 92917 (discovery observation below), was independently
 discovered with the NEAT 1.2-m Schmidt telescope at Palomar on Dec.
 14.4 (discovery observation below) and reported then to be cometary
 (with a faint short tail toward the east-southeast) by K. J.>
 Lawrence.  Following posting on the NEO Confirmation Page, several
 other CCD observers have also noted the object's cometary nature,
 including P. Birtwhistle (Great Shefford, Berkshire, England,
 0.30-m reflector; on Dec. 14.9, from co-added images totaling 15
 min exposure, diffuse coma of diameter 10", extended in p.a. about
 260 deg, surrounding a central condensation of mag 19.4; on Dec.
 15.9, 8" coma and 45" tail in p.a. 255 deg), J. E. McGaha (Tucson,
 AZ, 0.36-m reflector; on Dec. 16.3, three co-added 1-min frames
 show a small starlike condensation with a 8" coma), J. Young (Table
 Mountain, CA, 0.6-m reflector; on Dec. 17.3, 3" asymmetric coma
 with a hint of tail about 12" long in p.a. 250-260 deg), and R.
 Fredrick and R. Trentman (Louisburg, KS, 0.75-m reflector; on Dec.
 17.4, broad fan-shaped tail 20" long in p.a. 240 deg).

      2003 UT             R.A. (2000) Decl.       Mag.   Observer
      Dec.  4.33554    6 52 35.22   +41 38 56.6   19.2   LINEAR
           14.43141    6 45 02.68   +43 35 49.0   20.1   NEAT

 Additional astrometry, the following preliminary elliptical orbital
 elements, and an ephemeris appear on MPEC 2003-Y16.

      T = 2003 Sept.16.8716 TT         Peri. =   9.1651
      e = 0.436418                     Node  =  43.5591  2000.0
      q = 1.881255 AU                  Incl. =  14.7293
        a =  3.338032 AU    n = 0.1616100    P =   6.1 years


 SUPERNOVA 2003kz IN MCG +09-16-34
      Further to IAUC 8245, T. Boles reports the discovery of an
 apparent supernova (mag 18.5) on unfiltered CCD images taken on
 Dec. 16.092 and 17.186 UT.  The new object is located at R.A. =
 9h38m35s.27, Decl. = +52o17'53".2, which is approximately 9".5 west
 and 11".1 north of the center of MCG +09-16-34.  SN 2003kz is not
 present on Boles' images from Sept. 29 and Oct. 24 (limiting mag
 19.5) or on Digitized Sky Survey red (1995) or blue (1993) plates.

                       (C) Copyright 2003 CBAT
 2003 December 17               (8257)            Daniel W. E. Green