Spectral classification of PS15blq/MASTER OT J173142.37+435334.1
ATel #8115; M. Huber, K. C. Chambers (IfA, Hawaii), K. W. Smith, D. Wright, S. J. Smartt (Queen's University Belfast), H. Flewelling, M. Willman, N. Primak, A. Schultz, B. Gibson, E. Magnier, C. Waters, J. Tonry, R. J. Wainscoat (IfA, Hawaii), R. J. Foley (Illinois), S. W. Jha (Rutgers), A. Rest (STScI), D. Scolnic (Chicago/KICP)
on 2 Oct 2015; 22:30 UT
Credential Certification: Stephen Smartt (s.smartt@qub.ac.uk)
Subjects: Optical, Supernovae
We report spectroscopic classification of PS15blq from the Pan-STARRS Survey for Transients (PSST; Huber et al., ATel #7153; http://star.pst.qub.ac.uk/ps1threepi/ ). This object was discovered independently by both PSST and the MASTER
survey - see Shumkov et al ATel #8104, and Smith et al ATel. #8110.
A spectrum was taken on 20151001 with the SNIFS spectrograph on the UH 2.2m telescope (range 330-970nm, resolution R~1000). A strong H-alpha emission profile on top of a blue continuum is seen, with the
peak of the narrow H-alpha emission at z=0.125. The H-alpha profile has at least two velocity components,
a narrow peak with FWHM=13 Angs on top of a broader emission feature of approximately FWHM=60 Angs
(2700 km/s). H-beta is also visible in emission, but the S/N in this region of the spectrum prevents
any detection of the broad component. At this redshift, the absolute magnitude is around -21, making this
a very luminous type IIn supernova, with a long 60 day rise time. The host is likely a dwarf with M_r ~ -18.5.
