Electronic Telegram No. 1634 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 2008il IN ESO 355-G4 G. Pignata, J. Maza, M. Hamuy, R. Antezana, L. Gonzalez, P. Gonzalez, P. Lopez, S. Silva, G. Folatelli, D. Iturra, R. Cartier, and F. Forster, Universidad de Chile; B. Conuel, Wesleyan University; and D. Reichart, K. Ivarsen, A. Crain, D. Foster, M. Nysewander, and A. LaCluyze, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, on behalf of the CHASE project, report the discovery of an apparent supernova (mag approximately 16.5 +/- 0.2) on an unfiltered image taken on Dec. 27.14 UT with the 0.41-m 'PROMPT 3' telescope located at Cerro Tololo. The new object is located at R.A. = 2h17m53s.07 +/- 0".1, Decl. = -34o47'53".4 +/- 0".1 (equinox 2000), which is about 23".1 west 18".9 north of the center of the galaxy ESO 355-G4. Nothing is visible at this position on archival images taken on Dec. 12.08 and 22.19 (limiting mag 18.0). M. Stritzinger, Las Campanas Observatory (LCO), on behalf of the Carnegie Supernova Project, reports that a spectrum (range 380-920 nm) of 2008il, obtained on Dec. 28.1 UT with the du Pont telecope (+ WFCCD) at LCO, shows it to be a young type-II supernova. Adopting a host-galaxy recession velocity of 6236 km/s (Paturel et al. 2003, A.Ap. 412, 57) for the host galaxy, H_alpha and H_beta are measured to be blue-shifted by roughly 15000 and 12000 km/s, respectively. With use of the "SuperNova IDentification" program (Blondin and Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024), he finds 2008il to be very similar to SN 1999em and SN 2004et around a week past explosion. NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2008 CBAT 2008 December 28 (CBET 1634) Daniel W. E. Green