[IAUC] CBET 3062: 20120321 : SUPERNOVA 2012be

[quai en eps.harvard.edu]

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 3062
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau en eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat en iau.org)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


SUPERNOVA 2012be
     A. J. Drake, S. G. Djorgovski, M. J. Graham, A. Mahabal, and R. Williams,
California Institute of Technology; J. L. Prieto, Princeton University;
M. Catelan, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; E. C. Beshore and
S. M. Larson, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona; and E.
Christensen, Gemini Observatory, report the discovery of an apparent supernova
in unfiltered Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) images:

 SN       2012 UT        R.A. (2000.0) Decl.      Mag.
 2012be   Feb. 21.29   11 20 52.36  +51 32 30.2   18.0

Further CSS magnitudes for 2012be:  Feb. 2.24 UT, [20.2; Mar. 3.21, 18.2.

     L. Magill, D. Wright, and R. Kotak, Queen's University, Belfast, report
that optical spectroscopy (range 360-1000 nm) of 2012be was obtained at the
Isaac Newton Telescope (+ IDS) by H. Ledo on Mar. 14.87 UT and was cross-
correlated with a library of supernova spectra using the SNID software
(Blondin and Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024), showing it to be a type-Ia
supernova.  The best fit was with the normal type-Ia supernovae 2003du
(Anupama et al. 2005, A.Ap. 429, 667) and 2003cg (Elias-Rosa et al. 2006,
MNRAS 369, 1880) at epochs of 12-19 days.  Fitting with SNID yielded a
redshift of 0.08.  There is a Na I D line seen at the rest wavelength of the
Milky Way, with an equivalent width of 0.33 nm; there is no Na I D line
observed at the rest wavelength of the supernova.

     L. Tomasella, S. Valenti, A. Pastorello, S. Benetti, and P. Ochner,
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, report
that a spectrogram of 2012be, obtained on Mar. 16.94 UT with the 1.82-m
Copernico Telescope (+ AFOSC; range 340-790 nm, resolution 2.2 nm), indicates
that it is a type-Ia supernova.  Cross-correlation with a library of supernova
spectra via the "Supernova Identification" code (SNID; Blondin and Tonry 2007,
Ap.J. 666, 1024) shows that 2012be is similar to the type-Ia supernova 1998aq
about 20 days after its B-band maximum.


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

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 March 21                    (CBET 3062)              Daniel W. E. Green