Circular No. 5358 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. Telephone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) TWX 710-320-6842 ASTROGRAM CAM EASYLINK 62794505 MARSDEN or GREEN@CFA.BITNET MARSDEN or GREEN@CFAPS2.SPAN SUPERNOVA 1991ba IN ESO 244-IG32 R. H. McNaught, Anglo-Australian Observatory, reports his dis- covery of an apparent supernova (mag about 18.5) in the irregular galaxy ESO 244-IG32. The image appears on a V plate taken by S. M. Hughes with the U.K. Schmidt Telescope on Oct. 2.6 UT. Located at R.A. = 1h28m36s.57, Decl. = -42 42'58".6 (equinox 1950.0, uncertain- ty 0".6 in each coordinate), the supernova lies on the brighter, western edge of the galaxy. It is offset from the center of the galaxy (there being no obvious nucleus) by 1" west and 11" north. No star appears in this position on the ESO B or R surveys (the gal- axy is heavily overexposed on the SERC J survey). A nearby star of mag about 15 is located at R.A. = 1h28m31s.22, Decl. = -42 43'39".0. GAMMA-RAY BURSTS C. A. Meegan, G. J. Fishman, R. B. Wilson, W. S. Paciesas, M. N. Brock, J. M. Horack, G. N. Pendleton, and C. Kouveliotou report, for the BATSE Science Team: "The BATSE experiment on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory has detected 132 cosmic gamma-ray bursts from Apr. 24 through Oct. 1. The sky exposure has been measured; the largest deviation from non-uniformity is an enhanced exposure of about 20 percent in the direction of the celestial poles relative to the equator. The BATSE burst location accuracy is typically 5 to 10 degrees, as determined from BATSE observations of solar flares and from bursts independently located by other instruments. The distri- bution of 117 located events is isotropic within the statistical limits. A measure of the dipole moment with respect to the galactic center is = 0.008 +/- 0.071 (vs. 0 for an isotropic dis- tribution). A measure of the quadrupole moment with respect to the galactic plane is = 0.30 +/- 0.05 (vs. 1/3 for an iso- tropic distribution). The only non-uniformity in the observed dis- tribution is consistent with the non-uniformity in the sky exposure map. There is no apparent clustering of bursts around the LMC, M31, or nearby clusters of galaxies. The brightness distribution of 99 analyzed bursts bursts is inconsistent with a homogeneous, isotropic distribution. The integral brightness distribution has a slope of about -0.8 (vs. -3/2 for a homogeneous, isotropic distribution). The average value of V/Vmax is 0.34 +/- 0.03 (vs. 1/2 for a homogen- eous, isotropic distribution). These observations suggest a spatial confinement of the burst sources, and are difficult to reconcile with known distributions of galactic objects." 1991 October 4 Daniel W. E. Green