Sunday, February 10, 2008

Normally 18 mag. quasar now shining at 14

Electronic Telegram # 1249 of the IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams reports today that "S. Yoshida, Gunma, Japan, writes that the quasar 0133+476 (z = 0.859 [...]; also known as DA 55 [...]; R.A. = 1h36m58s.6, Decl. = +47°51'29", equinox 2000.0) has been found to be notably bright", namely at 14 to 15 mag. since last fall while it's catalogued at 18 mag. both red and blue (but has been in the 15 to 16 mag. range before).

In other news the Cosmic Log takes note of the recent solar eclipse which also brought one eclipse celebrity into a New Zealand newspaper - and there is also a nice hi-res image of the slender crescent Moon 38 hours after new moon.

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