SIMBAD references

We have confirmed that the precursor star of the unusual supernova 1954J (also known as Variable 12) in NGC 2403 survived what appears to have been a superoutburst, similar to the 1843 Great Eruption of η Carinae in the Galaxy. The apparent survivor has changed little in brightness and color over the last 8 years, and a Keck spectrum reveals characteristics broadly similar to those of η Car. This is further suggested by our identification of the actual outburst-surviving star in high-resolution images obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. We reveal this ``supernova impostor'' as a highly luminous (M⁰_V~-8.0 mag), very massive (M_initial≳25 M_☉) eruptive star, now surrounded by a dusty (A_V~4 mag) nebula, similar to η Car's famous Homunculus.