Bright Supernovae

Bright Supernovae - 2003

This data comes from IAU Circulars and occasionally more data will be provided on IAU's Astronomical Headlines page. An archive of the 2003 updates to this page is available.

This is a list of the Supernovae discovered in 2003. Please look at the main page for the latest data. Note that Extra galactic Novae have been moved to a special Extra galactic novae page. For more information, you can look at the following Supernova Catalogs:

IAU List of Supernovae since 1885

Mike Richmond's supernova list

For the year 2003, 338 (actually 4 fewer) supernovae have been reported (334 last year) a new record, for the third year in a row. 73 in NGC and IC galaxies (64 last year), 148 got brighter than 18th Mag (122 last year). 21 extragalactic novae were also reported. The brightest supernova reported for the year is 2003hv at mag 12.3 followed by 2003gd (in M74) at mag 13.2 and then 2003gs at mag 13.4.

Supernova 2003gd in M74 made it to magnitude 13.4, not nearly as bright as last years 2002ap (in the same galaxy) it was discovered just after M74 had come out of solar conjunction.
Supernovae visible simultaniously:
- 2003hl and 2003iq were both visible in NGC 772.
- For a short period of time 2003dt and 2002ha were both visible in NGC 6962.
Hypernovae: 2003jd, 2003dh (= GRB 030329), 2003bg, and 2003L.
2003hy had a completly flat, featurless spectrum, making this a very odd Type II event.
2003gm turned out to be an Eta Carini type event, and not a supernova, but it was exceptionally bright for such an event.
Announced Supernovae 2003aw and 2003ec turned out to be galactic objects.
Announced Supernova 2003lr turned out to be minor planet 42805 (discovery), then 42671 (confirmation). Two asteroids that lined up. To make things worse, when they did a spectrum, the did the spectrum of 23017, which was also near the same position.....
The Nature article about an overluminous type Ia supernova actually refers to 2003fg.

Possible supernova, IAUC 8992 2003/04/17.4, NGC 5900, Mag 17.4

Probable supernova, ATEL 1639, 2003/06/03.891, Mag 20.5 (Discovery image)

2003lz, IAUC 8371 discovered 2003/10/30.83 by Lulin Observatory

Found in ESO 428-G13 at R.A. = 07h16m25s.24, Decl. = -29°37'04".5

Located 14".3 west and 10".3 north of of the center of ESO 428-G13 (Discovery image)

Mag < 19.0 (11/6:16.5), Type unknown

2003lx, 2003ly IAUC 8362 discovered 2003/04/24 and 2003/12/20 by SDSS both type Ia, 2003lx reached Mag 18.8 in April of 2003
2003lw (= GRB 031203), IAUC 8308 discovered 2003/12/15.31 by ESO at mag 20.48. (References: GCN 2459)
2003lv, IAUC 8284 discovered 2003/04/04.67 by HST at mag 23.2. (Discovery images)
2003lu, IAUC 8284 discovered 2003/09/13 by HST at mag 26.1. (Discovery images)
2003lt, IAUC 8281 discovered 2003/08/30 by HST at mag 26.2. (Discovery images)

2003ls, IAUC 8271 discovered 2003/12/22.3 by Lick Observatory Supernova Search
Found near PGC 11402 at R.A. = 03h01m00s.37, Decl. = -10°53'32".0
Located 151" west and 49" north of the nucleus of PGC 11402 (Discovery image)
Mag 17.0* (12/22:16.5), Type Ia (References: CBET 58; vsnet-campaign-sn 758)

2003lr, IAUC 8266 discovered 2003/12/28.2 by Lick Observatory Supernova Search
Found in UGC 2904 at R.A. = 03h56m59s.00, Decl. = +16°29'37".5
Located 15".9 east and 33".3 north of the nucleus of UGC 2904 (Discovery image)
Mag 17.8, Type Asteroids (= Minor planets 42805 and 42671) (References: IAUC 8288; vsnet-campaign-sn 749, 783)
Mike Richmond's report on false supernova 2003lr

2003lq, IAUC 8262 discovered 2003/12/28.1 by Lick Observatory Supernova Search
Found in UGC 5 at R.A. = 00h03m04s.02, Decl. = -01°54'45".5
Located 24".5 west and 5".6 north of the nucleus of UGC 5 (Discovery image) (Paolo Corelli image) (JM Llapasset image) (Josep M. Bosch image)
Mag 16.0* (1/6:15.9), Type Ia (CfA spectrum) (References: IAUC 8268; vsnet-campaign-sn 745, 750; SN 2000da)

2003lp, IAUC 8261 discovered 2003/12/31.46 by Tim Puckett and D. Toth
Found in UGC 6711 at R.A. = 11h44m28s.57, Decl. = +69°43'54".6
Located 6".9 west and 7" north of the center of UGC 6711 (Discovery image)
Mag 16.8*, Type II (CfA spectrum) (References: IAUC 8268; vsnet-campaign-sn 744, 750)

2003lo, IAUC 8261 discovered 2003/12/31.14 by Tim Puckett and B. Kerns
Found in NGC 1376 at R.A. = 03h37m05s.12, Decl. = -05°02'17".3
Located 11".2 west and 16".3 north of the center of NGC 1376 (Discovery image)
Mag 17.6* (1/10:15.5), Type IIn (References: IAUC 8268; SN 1999go)
SN 2003lo images sub-page

2003le - 2003ln, IAUC 8261 discovered 2003/12/13-15 by ESSENCE project the brightest of which is mag 22.1. (Discovery images)