KAIT Limits on the Explosion Date of SN 2012fh
ATel #4522; KAIT Limits on the Explosion Date of SN 2012fh
on 27 Oct 2012; 22:14 UT
Credential Certification: S. Bradley Cenko (cenko@astro.berkeley.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Supernovae
As part of the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS), we have monitored the nearby galaxy NGC 3344, host to SN 2012fh (Nakano et al., CBET 3263) with the 0.76-m Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT). Prior to discovery of the supernova on 18 October 2012 UT, our most recent observations of NGC 3344 were obtained in May 2012 (after which the field was too close to the Sun). Coadding individual frames from 9 through 21 May 2012 and comparing with a template image from 2011, we detect no transient emission at the supernova location to a limiting magnitude of R > 20.1 mag. This limits the age of the supernova upon discovery to be <~ 150 days.
