Type Ia Supernova SNF20080514-002
ATel #1532; The Nearby Supernova Factory: G. Aldering, S. Bongard, M. Childress, S. Loken, P. Nugent, S. Perlmutter, K. Runge, R. C. Thomas (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA); C. Baltay, J. Jerke, D. Rabinowitz, R. Scalzo (Yale University, New Haven, CT); G. Rigaudier, E. Pecontal (Centre de Recherche Astronomique de Lyon); C. Buton, Y. Copin, E. Gangler, G. Smadja, C. Tao (Institut de Physique Nucleaire de Lyon); P. Antilogus, S. Bailey, R. Pain, R. Pereira, P. Ripoche, C. Wu (Laboratoire de Physique Nucleaire et de Haute Energies de Paris)
on 19 May 2008; 00:55 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Supernovae
Credential Certification: R. C. Thomas (rcthomas@lbl.gov)
Subjects: Infra-Red, Optical, Ultra-Violet, Request for Observations, Supernovae
The Nearby Supernova Factory reports its discovery of a young, blue, Type Ia supernova (J2000.0 coordinates RA 13:29:12.82 DEC 11:16:20.60) in UGC 8472 (z = 0.0221, SDSS DR6) using images taken May 14 UTC with the QUEST-II camera on the Palomar Oschin 48-inch telescope, operated by the Palomar-QUEST Consortium. Spectra (range 320-1000 nm) obtained May 16 and 18 UTC with the SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph on the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope reveal it to be a Type Ia SN with a very blue continuum, indicative of a SN at a week or more before maximum.
Both spectroscopic observations show absorption lines we attribute to C II 474.5 and 658.0 nm (Thomas et al. 2007, ApJL, 654, 53), with absorption minima at 12,000 km/s once the spectra are corrected to rest-frame. Interestingly, this ejection velocity makes an observed line at 413.6 nm seem inconsistent with C II 426.7 (see Howell et al. 2006, Nature, 443, 308). No other C I or C II lines can be identified in the spectra. A plot of the preliminary spectral reductions is available at:
http://snfactory.lbl.gov/snf/data/SNF20080514-002.png
Due to the unusually blue continuum, the young age of the SN, and the presence of carbon features, we encourage observations at other wavelengths and spectropolarimetry, if feasible. A finding chart is available through the Nearby Supernova Factory alert page:
http://snfactory.lbl.gov/snf/open_access/login.php