Alexander Avtanski wrote:


William C. Keel wrote:

Henry wrote:

....snip...

Presumably as it is in another galaxy that "bright" is a relative term and
that it is beyond simple viewing equipment (bins for example)


Relative, yes, but it is the brightest in several years. Not a
binocular object unless you have some of those 125mm giants,
but it's probably still within resch of a 6-inch telescope from
most sites. Maurice Gavin even got a nice spectrum with an 8-inch
instrument. at http://home.freeuk.com/m.gavin/2004dj.htm.

Bill Keel

Yes, it was easy target in 8" about a month ago. I guess it would
be accessible to 4" too from a good site and with some care.

What I don't understand is why old information like this goes out
as a "NEWS ALERT" (even in capital letters). That's OK, but it got
me for a second: "Ah, another bright one!", and I was a bit
disappointed when I figured it out...

- Alex

I gather the "news" was release of the picture - all the Hubble "inbox"
press release are headed the same way. I happened to be at
Kitt Peak a few weeks back and took a few spectra for Alex Filippenko.
A 30-second exposure took H-alpha to the guaranteed-linear bright
limit of the detector... and Maurice Gavin's site pointed to
the most useful ID chart I could find.

Bill Keel