La Silla-QUEST detection and Las Campanas Spectroscopic confirmation of Type Ia SN (LSQ11ne)
ATel #3827; E. Hadjiyska (Yale), D. Rabinowitz (Yale), C. Baltay (Yale), N. Ellman (Yale), R. McKinnon (Yale), P. Nugent (LBNL), M. Phillips (LSO), E. Hsiao (LSO)
on 25 Dec 2011; 17:25 UT
Credential Certification: Ellie Hadjiyska (ellie.hadjiyska@yale.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Supernovae
We report the discovery of a Type Ia SN at z=0.093 on December 14.043 (when the variable was at magnitude R = 20.4), as part of the La Silla-QUEST (LSQ) transient survey conducted with Yale University's 160-megapixel QUEST camera on the 1.0-m Schmidt Telescope of the European Southern Observatory at La Silla, Chile (Rabinowitz et al. 2011, Ap.J. 732, 512). Photometry is calibrated to the USNO catalog. The source's position is RA= 01:55:39.6, Dec = -07:30:25 (J2000). Follow up LSQ observations taken during December 14-21 UT reveal a gradual brightness increase by > 1.4 mag. The spectrum of LSQ11ne was taken as part of the Carnegie Supernova Project on 2011 Dec 23.1 with the WFCCD spectrograph on the du Pont 2.5 m telescope at Las Campanas. Wavelength coverage was 370-950 nm. Comparison with a library of supernova spectra using the "superfit" program of Howell et al. (2005, Ap.J. 634, 1190) indicates that LSQ11ne is a type-Ia supernova near maximum light. The expansion velocity derived from the minimum of the Si II 6355 absorption is approximately 9800 km/s. A redshift of z = 0.093 was derived from Ca II H&K and Mg I absorption features measured from the spectrum of the host galaxy.
