[IAUC] CBET 1720: 20090313 : SUPERNOVA 2009av

[IAUC mailing list]

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 1720
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 2009av
     R. Quimby, California Institute of Technology, on behalf of a large
collaboration called the "Palomar Transient Factory" (PTF; including S.
Kulkarni, N. Law, M. Kasliwal, E. Ofek, P. Nugent, I. Arcavi, L. Bildsten,
J. Bloom, J. Brewer, T. Brown, S. B. Cenko, D. Ciardi, E. Croner, R. Dekany,
G. Djorgovski, A. V. Filippenko, D. Fox, A. Gal-Yam, C. Grillmair, D. Hale,
N. Hamam, D. Helfand, G. Helou, I. Hook, A. Howell, J. Jacobsen, M. Kiewe,
R. Laher, A. Mahabal, S. Mattingly, J. Patterson, H. Perets, S. Perlmutter,
A. Pickles, D. Poznanski, A. Rau, G. Rahmer, W. Reach, W. Rosing, M. Shara,
R. Smith, D. Starr, M. Sullivan, J. Surace, R. Thomas, and V. Velur), reports
the discovery of a normal type-Ia supernova (mag 18.62 +/- 0.04) in g-band
images taken with the 1.2-m Oschin Schmidt telescope (+ CFH12K camera) at
Palomar on Mar. 2.347 UT; the discovery image was subtracted from a reference
template made from PTF images acquired on Feb. 25, 26, and 28 (which may
contain some light from the rising transient).  The new object is located at
R.A. = 14h23m55s.82, Decl. = +35o11'05".2 (equinox 2000.0; uncertainty < 1"),
which is 0".9 west and 2".7 south of the core of a galaxy (listed in the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey with magnitude g = 17.78 and redshift z = 0.0555).
Spectra (range 330-870 nm) of 2009av, obtained on Mar. 8.388 with the 5-m
Palomar Hale telescope (+ Double Beam Spectrograph), reveal a redshift that
is consistent with the apparent SDSS host galaxy; the expansion velocity
derived from the minimum of the Si II (rest 635.5 nm) line is about 10700
km/s.  The best match of the spectra of 2009av, found with the "Superfit"
supernova spectral-identification code (Howell et al. 2005, Ap.J. 634, 1190),
is to that of SN 1994D around one week prior to maximum light.


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2009 CBAT
2009 March 13                    (CBET 1720)              Daniel W. E. Green