[vsnet-alert 11060] Re: re Nova LMC 1971b = LMC V3958

[Brian Skiff]

     Since IAUC 2353 is not available on-line, I looked at our
paper copy.  The object was found by John Graham on a Curtis Schmidt 
objective-prism plate taken by Gaston Araya and was promptly reported.
These plates are now stored at the PARI site in North Carolina 
(www.pari.edu/library), so in principle the plate could be found
and the relevant portion digitally scanned (there's a good scanner
at the site).
     The position was estimated as:  5 40.6 -66 41 (1975 ---not 1950),
which precesses to:  5 40 36 -66 40.3 (2000), keeping an extra
'decimal'.  The LMC is near the south ecliptic pole, so the precession
is almost nil.  Given the image-scale of the plates of 96"/mm,
one could suspect that the uncertainty could easily be 2'-3'.

\Brian