Electronic Telegram No. 1457 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 2008em IN MCG -04-53-33 Further to CBET 1456, J. Leja, W. Li, and A. V. Filippenko, University of California, report the LOSS discovery of an apparent supernova on unfiltered KAIT images: SN 2008 UT R.A. (2000.0) Decl. Mag. Offset 2008em July 31.40 22 44 37.70 -21 54 35.2 18.7 17".8 W, 0".5 S Additional KAIT magnitudes for 2008em in MCG -04-53-33: 2007 Oct.-Dec., [20.8 (a combined unfiltered image); 2008 July 8.44 UT, [18.1; Aug 1.40, 18.5. J. M. Silverman, T. N. Steele, R. Mostardi, and A. V. Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley, report that inspection of a relatively noisy CCD spectrum (range 350-1030 nm), obtained on Aug. 1 UT with the Shane 3-m reflector (+ Kast spectrograph) at Lick Observatory, shows that the object is probably a type-Ic supernova near, or shortly after, maximum brightness. Cross-correlation with a library of supernova spectra using the "SuperNova IDentification" code (Blondin and Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024) indicates that it is most similar to the normal type-Ic supernova 2004aw at five days past maximum. NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2008 CBAT 2008 August 2 (CBET 1457) Daniel W. E. Green