ASASSN-16ab: Discovery of A Bright, Nearby Supernova Candidate in Dwarf Galaxy PGC 037392

ATel #8502; B. J. Shappee (Hubble Fellow, Carnegie Observatories), K. Z. Stanek, J. S. Brown, T. W.-S. Holoien, C. S. Kochanek, D. Godoy-Rivera, U. Basu (Ohio State), Subo Dong ((KIAA-PKU), J. L. Prieto (Diego Portales; MAS), D. Bersier (LJMU), Ping Chen (KIAA-PKU), J. Brimacombe (Coral Towers Observatory)
on 3 Jan 2016; 20:07 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Supernovae
Credential Certification: Benjamin Shappee (bshappee@obs.carnegiescience.edu)

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During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN or "Assassin"), quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, we discovered a new transient source, most likely a supernova, in the galaxy PGC 037392.

ASASSN-16ab was discovered in images obtained on UT 2016-01-03.62 at V~14.7 mag. We also detect the object in images obtained on UT 2015-12-27.5 (V~16.3). We do not detect (V>16.7) the object in images taken on UT 2015-12-24.53 and before. This figure shows the archival DSS image of the host (left), the ASAS-SN reference image (center), and the ASAS-SN discovery difference image (right). The red circle has a radius of 5" and is centered on the position of the transient.

The position of ASASSN-16ab is approximately 4.6" South and 9.8" West from the center of the galaxy PGC 037392 (z=0.004293, d=22.7 Mpc, via NED), giving an absolute V-band magnitude of approximately -17.1 (m-M=31.78, A_V=0.058) at discovery. Properties of the new source and photometry are summarized in the tables below:

 
Object       RA (J2000)     DEC (J2000)      Disc. UT Date   Disc. V mag  Approx. Abs. Mag   Offset from Host 
ASASSN-16ab  11:55:04.245   +01:43:06.77     2016-01-03.62    14.7         -17.1               10.8" 
 
 

 
Observation Date   V mag 
2015-12-24.53      >16.70  99.9 
2015-12-27.51       16.42  0.23 
2015-12-27.55       16.17  0.14 
2016-01-03.62       14.69  0.03 

Follow-up observations are encouraged.

We thank LCOGT and its staff for their continued support of ASAS-SN. ASAS-SN is supported by NSF grant AST-1515927, the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP) at OSU, the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation, George Skestos, and the Robert Martin Ayers Sciences Fund. For more information about the ASAS-SN project, see the ASAS-SN Homepage and the list of all ASAS-SN transients.