Here's a little better image of SN 1998s from last night (98 Mar. 9-10).
I went crazy last night trying to get an image of the new SN without a lot of scattered (the streak of light above the galaxy) light from Chi UMa which is close by. I'm going to change a few things in my camera/reducer setup an try again on the next clear night. I'll send you a better image then.
This was a 2 min exposure with the C14 @ F5 and a CB245 camera. In my software the FITS image looks much better, but I've found this in not true of all FITS viewers.
On the IAU Headlines page today there is more information, but the listed magnitude (15.2) is obviously wrong. (This was probably the magnitude at discovery.) On my image (unfiltered) I'd estimate it's about 13.5.
Phil Sullivan