SN2001it – discovery

Tom Boles

SN2001it in MCG +09-25-15, discovered 2001 December 22. IAU Circular 7782 : G.M. Hurst, Basingstoke, England, reports the discovery by T. Boles, Coddenham, England, of an apparent supernova (mag. 17.6) on an unfiltered CCD image (limiting mag. 18.5) taken on Dec. 22.196 UT. The new object is located at RA 15h 06m 09s.40, Dec +53º 24' 41".6 (equinox 2000.0; average of two frames from Dec. 22 and 26), which is 7" west and 3" north of the nucleus of MCG +09-25-15. A follow-up image taken on Dec. 26.130, obtained in good conditions (limiting mag. 19.0), clearly shows the object at mag. 17.4. A master image taken on Sept. 16 by Boles does not show SN2001it to a limit of mag. about 18.