SIMBAD references

L. Wang, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; and D. Baade, European Southern Observatory (ESO), communicate: "We observed SN 2003hx (cf. IAUC 8199, 8200) with the ESO Very Large Telescope (+ FORS1) in spectropolarimetry mode on Sept. 15.4 UT. The spectroscopy shows SN 2003hx to be a type-Ia supernova, about 10 days past maximum. The interstellar Na I D line has an equivalent width of 4.86, indicating significant dust extinction. The observed degree of polarization is about 2 percent and peaks blueward of 400 nm with a postion angle of 3.4 deg. If this polarization is due to dust in the host galaxy, it implies that the dust particles are significantly smaller in size than their Galactic counterparts. The ratio of total-to-selective extinction, R_v = A_v/E(B-V), inferred from these observations is around 2.2."