Electronic Telegram No. 3540 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 2013cu IN UGC 9379 = PSN J14335897+4014207 Denis Denisenko, Sternberg Astronomical Institute (SAI), reports the discovery of an apparent supernova (magnitude 15.7) by S. Shurpakov on two unfiltered 60-s survey images (limiting mag 18.3) obtained with the MASTER-Kislovodsk robotic telescope (double 0.40-m f/2.5 reflector) on May 5.922 and 5.928 UT. The new object is located at R.A. = 14h33m58s.97, Decl. = +40o14'20".7 (equinox 2000.0), which is 4" east and 20" south of the center of the galaxy UGC 9379. Denisenko and E. Gorbovskoy find that nothing was visible at this position on MASTER-Kislovodsk images from Apr. 5.948 and 5.979 (limiting mag 18.9). The discovery and reference images are available at URL http://master.sai.msu.ru/static/OT/143358.97401420.7.jpg; animated images are posted at URL http://master.sai.msu.ru/static/OT/PSNinUGC9379-anim.gif. The variable was designated PSN J14335897+4014207 when it was posted at the Central Bureau's TOCP webpage and is here designated SN 2013cu based on the spectroscopic confirmation reported below. K. Sarneczky (Konkoly Observatory, Piszkesteto, Hungary; 0.60-m Schmidt telescope) reports magnitude R = 17.0 +/- 0.1 and position end figures 58s.87, 22".9 on May 7.877. L. Tomasella, S. Benetti, A. Pastorello, E. Cappellaro, P. Ochner, and M. Turatto, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, report that an optical spectrogram of PSN J14335897+4014207 = SN 2013cu (range 340-820 nm; resolution 1.3 nm), obtained on May 8.96 UT with the Asiago 1.82-m Copernico Telescope (+ AFOSC), shows a featureless blue continuum. This suggests that 2013cu is likely a very young core-collapse supernova. The Asiago classification spectra are posted at website URL http://graspa.oapd.inaf.it; classification was made via GELATO (Harutyunyan et al. 2008, A.Ap. 488, 383) and SNID (Blondin and Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024). NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2013 CBAT 2013 June 3 (CBET 3540) Daniel W. E. Green