SIMBAD references

D. L. Welch, McMaster University; G. C. Clayton, Lousiana State University; and B. Sugerman, Goucher College, report six nights of pre- outburst g', r', and i' imaging of SN 2008S (cf. CBETs 1234, 1235, 1236, 1275) obtained with the 8.1-m Gemini North reflector (+ GMOS). Exposures of 60 s were obtained in each of the filters on 2004 Aug. 20, 2004 Oct. 8, 2004 Dec. 11, 2005 Aug. 4, 2005 Oct. 4, and 2006 July 18 UT. Image FWHM ranged from 0".58 to 0".88. Based on the photometric transformations between g'r'i' and VRI reported by Welch et al. 2007 (Ap.J., 669, 525), it is concluded that no object brighter than magnitudes V = 24.0, R = 24.5, and I = 22.9 was detected at the 3-sigma level at the position of 2008S in any of these images. Reduced and "World Coordinate System"-registered images of the field may be downloaded at http://crocus.physics.mcmaster.ca/SN2008S/.