This episode reminds us that if one is searching for supernova via imaging, dead-on tracking and precise focus are essential. Galaxies are not the largest nor brighest of targets, so typically the image scale is getting up there and the exposures are longish. Any fuzziness in the image just makes identification more difficult. These criteria apply to digital as well as emulsion imaging. Add precise registration for digital stacks. Paying attention to the details pays off. Consider that some of the most successful supernova finders of the 20th century used visual techniques only- they actually had the fields of dozens to hundreds of galaxies MEMORIZED. They did this for the sake of expediency. Their limiting magnitude was typically much lower than an imaged search, but they could examine a much larger number of targets in a given unit of time. To me, that is incredible dedication and a true demonstration of critical observing skill. C. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com