[IAUC] CBET 1500: 20080908 : SUPERNOVA 2008fm IN UGC 12792

[IAUC mailing list]

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 1500
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS en CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
CBAT en CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html


SUPERNOVA 2008fm IN UGC 12792
     F. Yuan, University of Michigan; R. Quimby, California Institute of
Technology; A. Uecker, Indiana University of Pennsylvania; D. Chamarro,
M. D. Sisson, and C. Akerlof, University of Michigan; and J. C. Wheeler,
University of Texas, on behalf of the ROTSE collaboration, report the
discovery of a supernova (mag about 17.5) in unfiltered CCD images taken
on Sept. 5.16, 6, and 7 UT with the 0.45-m ROTSE-IIIb telescope at
McDonald Observatory.  The new object is located at R.A. = 23h49m03s.51,
Decl. = +26o47'39".3 (equinox 2000.0), which is 25".2 east and 22".0
north of the center of its apparent host galaxy, UGC 12792.  A finding
chart has been posted at the following website URL:
http://www.rotse.net/rsvp/j234903.5+264739/j234903.5+264739.jpg.
A spectrum (range 420-890 nm) of 2008fm, obtained on Sept. 7.20 with the
9.2-m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (+ Marcario Low-Resolution Spectrograph)
by J. Caldwell and E. Terrazas, shows it to be a type-IIn supernova; the
redshift derived from the hydrogen Balmer emission lines is consistent
with that of the presumed host, UGC 12792 (z = 0.0385; Zabludoff et al.
1990, Ap.J. Suppl. 74, 1).


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2008 CBAT
2008 September 8                 (CBET 1500)              Daniel W. E. Green