Circular No. 7218
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)
BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html  ISSN 0081-0304
Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)


GRB 990705
     G. Celidonio, G. Tarei, and S. Rebecchi, BeppoSAX Scientific
Operation Center, Telespazio, Rome; J. Heise and J. in't Zand,
Space Research Organization of the Netherlands, Utrecht; N. Masetti,
Istituto Tecnologie e Studio Radiazioni Extraterrestri, CNR,
Bologna; F. Frontera, Universita di Ferrara; and P. Soffitta, M.
Feroci, and G. Gandolfi, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, CNR,
Rome, write:  "A gamma-ray burst with a bright x-ray counterpart
triggered the BeppoSAX Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GRBM) on July
5.66765 UT and was simultaneously detected in the Wide Field Camera
(WFC) unit 2.  The burst lasted for about 45 s in the 2-26-keV WFC
data and shows a complex, multipeaked structure.  The WFC peak
intensity corresponds to a flux of about 4 Crab.  The 40-700-keV
GRBM flux is very strong and has a similar duration, with a peak of
4530 counts/s.  The WFC-determined position of the x-ray
counterpart to GRB 990705 is R.A. = 5h09m52s, Decl. = -72o08'.0
(equinox 2000.0), with an error radius of 3' (99-percent confidence
level).  A follow-up observation with BeppoSAX narrow-field
instruments is still in progress."


NOVA IN M31
     M. Modjaz and W. D. Li, University of California at Berkeley,
on behalf of the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (cf. IAUC 6627,
7126), report the discovery with the 0.8-m Katzman Automatic
Imaging Telescope (KAIT) of an apparent nova in M31 (NGC 224).  The
object was discovered and confirmed on unfiltered CCD frames
obtained on July 1.4 and 2.4 UT (mag about 16.8 on both images).
The new star is located at R.A. = 0h42m49s.5, Decl. = +41o15'06"
(equinox 2000.0), which is 60" east and 63" south of the nucleus of
M31.  A KAIT image of the same field on 1998 July 23.5 (limiting
mag about 19.0) showed nothing at the position of the nova.  A
finding chart is located at
http://astron.berkeley.edu/~bait/1999/n31_1.html.


COMET C/1998 T1 (LINEAR)
     Visual m_1 estimates:  June 13.53 UT, 9.4 (N. Biver, Oahu, HI,
0.26-m reflector); 23.74, 8.6 (S. T. Rae, Palmerston North, New
Zealand, 0.11-m refl.); July 2.96, 8.9 (J. G. de S. Aguiar,
Campinas, Brazil, 0.23-m refl.); 4.42, 8.8 (D. A. J. Seargent, The
Entrance, N.S.W., 25x100 binoculars); 5.48, 9.2 (M. Mattiazzo,
Wallaroo, South Australia, 0.20-m refl.).

                      (C) Copyright 1999 CBAT
1999 July 7                    (7218)            Daniel W. E. Green