Electronic Telegram No. 1282 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html SUPERNOVA 2008aw IN NGC 4939 M. Dennefeld, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris; I. Agnoletto, A. Harutyunyan, S. Benetti, and E. Cappellaro, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova and INAF; M. Turatto, Osservatorio Astronomico di Catania; S. Taubenberger and N. Elias-Rosa, Max Planck Institut fuer Astrophysik; and A. Boselli, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, report that a spectrogram of 2008aw (cf. CBET 1279), obtained on Mar. 4.03 UT with the Observatoire de Haute Provence 1.93-m telescope (+ CARELEC; range 362-726 nm, resolution 0.8 nm), shows a blue featureless continuum consistent with a core-collapse supernova soon after explosion. A broad, shallow (FWHM about 14500 km/s) He I 587.6-nm line is visible with a P-Cyg profile, with the minimum being blueshifted by about 11000 km/s. A narrow H-alpha emission line with a velocity of 3290 km/s from the background H II region is present in the spectrum, in agreement with the host-galaxy recession velocity (3117 km/s, from Da Costa et al. 1998, A.J. 116, 1). S. Blondin, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), on behalf of the CfA Supernova Group, reports that a spectrum (range 350-740 nm) of 2008aw, obtained on Mar. 4.41 UT by A. Vaz with the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST), shows it to be a young type-II supernova. The spectrum consists of a featureless and blue continuum and is similar to an early spectrum of SN 1993J (Matheson et al. 2000, A.J. 120, 1487). NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2008 CBAT 2008 March 4 (CBET 1282) Daniel W. E. Green