Circular No. 7737

Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only)

SUPERNOVA 2001fd IN UGC 11957

M. Papenkova and W. D. Li, University of California at Berkeley (UCB), report the discovery by LOTOSS (cf. IAUC 7514) of an apparent supernova in unfiltered images taken with the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) on Oct. 18.4 (mag about 16.9) and 19.4 UT (mag about 16.4). The new object is located at R.A. = 1h48m22s.22, Decl. = +11o31'34".4 (equinox 2000.0), which is 4".0 west and 17".5 north of the nucleus of NGC 673. A KAIT image taken on Oct. 13.4 showed nothing at this position (limiting mag about 19.0). SN 1996bo (IAUC 6497) also occurred in NGC 673.

A. V. Filippenko and R. Chornock, UCB, report that a CCD spectrum (range 330-1000 nm) obtained on Oct. 20 UT with the 3-m Shane reflector at Lick Observatory reveals that the object is a young type-IIn supernova, with a nearly featureless, very blue continuum and weak, narrow hydrogen-Balmer emission lines. Emission lines of He II 468.6-nm and C III/N III 464-nm, characteristic of Wolf-Rayet stars, are several times stronger than H-beta. The overall spectrum is similar to that of the type-IIn supernova 1998S at very early times (Leonard et al. 2000, Ap.J. 536, 239).

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Host galaxy info: Vel = 5182 km/s, 2.1 x 1.7, 13.20, SAB(s)c

SN type info: II

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