ASASSN-16ax: Discovery of A Heavily Obscured Probable Supernova in 2MASX J01312331+6019128

ATel #8594; G. Masi (Virtual Telescope Project, Ceccano, Italy), J. S. Brown, T. W.-S. Holoien, K. Z. Stanek, C. S. Kochanek, D. Godoy-Rivera, U. Basu (Ohio State), B. J. Shappee (Hubble Fellow, Carnegie Observatories), J. L. Prieto (Diego Portales; MAS), D. Bersier (LJMU), Subo Dong, Ping Chen (KIAA-PKU), J. Brimacombe (Coral Towers Observatory), G. Bock (Runaway Bay Observatory, Australia), I. Cruz (Cruz Observatory), S. Kiyota (Variable Star Observers League in Japan)
on 26 Jan 2016; 20:51 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Supernovae
Credential Certification: Jonathan Brown (brown@astronomy.ohio-state.edu)

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During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN or "Assassin"), using data from the quadruple 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, we discovered a new transient source, most likely a supernova, in the galaxy 2MASX J01312331+6019128.

ASASSN-16ax (AT 2016ag) was discovered in images obtained on UT 2016-01-26.23 at V~16.0 mag. We also detect the object in images obtained on UT 2016-01-24.24 (V~16.2). We do not detect (V>16.2) the object in images taken on UT 2016-01-23.21 and before. An image obtained on 2016-01-26 by G. Masi confirms the discovery of the transient. This figure shows the archival DSS image of the host (left) and the G. Masi confirmation image (right). The red circle has a radius of 5" and is centered on the position of the transient in the G. Masi image.

The position of ASASSN-16ax is close to the Galactic plane (A_V=1.512), and approximately 1.0" North and 2.0" West from the center of the galaxy 2MASX J01312331+6019128 (no redshift information available from NED). 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-16ax  01:31:23.180  +60:19:13.65      2016-01-26.23      16.0            N/A                2.24 

 
Obs. UT Date         V mag 
2016-01-23.21        >16.2 
2016-01-24.24         16.2 
2016-01-26.23         16.0 

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.