Circular No. 7332 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) SUPERNOVA 1999gk IN NGC 4653 S. Jha, P. Garnavich, P. Challis, and R. Kirshner, Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, report the serendipitous discovery by P. Berlind of a supernova in NGC 4653, during the course of spectroscopic observations with the F. L. Whipple Observatory (FLWO) 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST spectrograph). A spectrum of SN 1999gk, taken by Berlind on Dec. 15.53 UT, shows it to be a type-II supernova just after maximum light. The spectrum exhibits a blue continuum with strong P-Cyg Balmer lines and Fe II absorption. The H-alpha profile is quite peculiar, with the P-Cyg absorption showing two minima at expansion velocites of 16 100 and 8300 km/s, perhaps implying an asymmetric expansion and the possibility of strong polarization. Superimposed narrow H-alpha emission yields a recession velocity of 2490 km/s for the host galaxy. Concurrent images, taken by C. Hergenrother with the FLWO 1.2-m telescope (+ 4Shooter), yield a precise position for the supernova of R.A. = 12h43m51s.91, Decl. = -0o32'55".4 (equinox 2000.0), which is 45".6 north and 15".3 east of the host galaxy, and magnitudes for the supernova V = 15.7 and R = 15.8. Coincidentally, the supernova is in the Landolt standard star field SA104. GRB 991208 A. J. Castro-Tirado, Laboratorio de Astrofisica Espacial y Fisica Fundamental del Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aerospacial, Madrid, and Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Granada, on behalf of a large European collaboration; C. Blake and J. Wall, University of Oxford; and G. Feulner and U. Hopp, Universitats Sternwarte, Hamburg, report: "We have imaged the 14 arcmin^2 error box derived by the Ulysses, KONUS, and NEAR spacecraft for the extremely intense gamma-ray burst detected on Dec. 8.19227 UT (Hurley et al., GCN 450). The images were taken with the 2.5-m Isaac Newton telescope (INT) at La Palma on Dec. 10.27 (I band) and at the 2.5-m INT and 2.2-m telescope of the German-Spanish Calar Alto Observatory on Dec. 11.27 (R- and I-band filters). After a visual comparison with the Digital Sky Survey, a new source is clearly detected with R = 19.5 +/- 0.1 (Dec. 11.27). Its position is R.A. = 16h33m53s.51, Decl. = +46o27'21".5 (equinox 2000.0; +/- 1"). This object coincides with the previously unknown radio source reported by Frail et al. at position end figures 53s.50, 20".9 (GCN 451) and therefore is taken to be the optical afterglow to GRB 991208. Further multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopy are encouraged. A finding chart is posted at http://www.laeff.esa.es/~ajct/GRBs/GRB991208." (C) Copyright 1999 CBAT 1999 December 16 (7332) Daniel W. E. Green