[IAUC] CBET 1624: 20081220 : SUPERNOVA 2008if IN MCG -01-24-10

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                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 1624
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
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SUPERNOVA 2008if IN MCG -01-24-10
     P. Challis, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), on
behalf of the CfA Supernova Group, reports that a spectrum (range 350-740
nm) of 2008if (cf. CBET 1619), obtained on Dec. 19 UT by P. Berlind with the
F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST), shows it to be a young
type-II supernova.  The spectrum consists of a blue continuum with shallow
P-Cyg profiles of the Balmer series and He I (587.6 nm).  Cross-correlation
with a library of supernova spectra using the "Supernova Identification"
code (Blondin and Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024) indicates that 2008if is most
similar to a type-II supernova at an early phase.


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                         (C) Copyright 2008 CBAT
2008 December 20                 (CBET 1624)              Daniel W. E. Green