Electronic Telegram No. 2678
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau@eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat@iau.org)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


SUPERNOVA 2011ay IN NGC 2315 = PSN J07023406+5035250
     Further to CBET 2651, P. Blanchard, S. B. Cenko, W. Li, and A. V.
Filippenko report the LOSS discovery of an apparent supernova on unfiltered
KAIT images:

 SN       2011 UT       R.A. (2000.0) Decl.      Mag.      Offset
 2011ay   Mar. 18.18   7 02 34.06  +50 35 25.0   17.7    9".3 E, 1".4 S

Nothing was visible at this position on a KAIT image from Mar. 1.22 UT
(limiting mag 19.6).  The object was designated PSN J07023406+5035250 when
posted on the Central Bureau's TOCP webpage, and it is here designated SN
2011ay based on the spectroscopic report below.  Joseph Brimacombe (Cairns,
Australia) writes that he obtained sixteen 600-s exposures on Mar. 20.204
remotely with a 51-cm RCOS telescope (+ STL11K camera) at the New Mexico
Skies Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A., which yield mag 16.8 and
position end figures 34s.09, 24".6 for 2011ay; he has posted his images at
website URL http://www.flickr.com/photos/43846774@N02/5544607756/.

     R. W. Pogge, Ohio State University; P. Garnavich, Univeristy of Notre
Dame; and M. Pedani, Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Observatory, report that
a spectrogram of PSN J07023406+5035250 = SN 2011ay was obtained with the LBT
(+ MODS1 spectrograph) on Mar. 21.15 UT.  The seeing was estimated to be 1".0
FWHM, so a 1".2 slit was employed.  The continuum is very blue, even beyond
400 nm.  A weak, broad absorption feature is seen at 615.6 nm after
correcting for the recession velocity of 6296 km/s (Miller and Owen 2001,
Ap.J. Suppl. 134, 355).  This feature is identified as Si II with an expansion
velocity of 9400 km/s.  Strong absorption features at 428.2 and 498.8 nm are
identified as Fe III lines.  Overall, the spectrum is similar to the peculiar
type-Ia supernova 1999aa at 11 days before maximum light (Garavini et al.
2004, A.J. 128, 387).


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2011 CBAT
2011 March 22                    (CBET 2678)              Daniel W. E. Green