Electronic Telegram No. 3003
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 2012S = PSN J01494770+3144496
     A. J. Drake, S. G. Djorgovski, M. J. Graham, A. Mahabal, and R. Williams,
California Institute of Technology; J. L. Prieto, Princeton University; M.
Catelan, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; E. C. Beshore and S. M.
Larson, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona; and E.
Christensen, Gemini Observatory, report the discovery of an apparent supernova
in unfiltered Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) images:

 SN       2012 UT       R.A. (2000.0) Decl.      Mag.      Offset
 2012S    Jan. 26.17   1 49 47.70  +31 44 49.6   17.2    5".3 W, 12".7 N

The variable was designated PSN J01494770+3144496 when it was posted at the
Central Bureau's TOCP webpage and is here designated SN 2012S based on the
spectroscopic confirmation reported below.  Further unfiltered CCD magnitudes
for 2012S:  2011 Nov. 27.29 UT, [19.6 (CSS); 2012 Jan. 1.25, 18.5 (CSS);
27.905, 17.5 (Paolo Corelli, Pagnacco, Italy; 0.45-m f/4.5 telescope; position
end figures 47s.67, 50".3; offset 5" west, 15" north; limiting mag 19.0.

     S. Valenti, A. Pastorello, L. Tomasella, S. Benetti, E. Cappellaro,
M. Fiaschi, P. Ochner, and M. Turatto, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova,
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, report that a spectrum (range 360-810 nm;
resolution 2.3 nm) of PSN J01494770+3144496 = SN 2012S was obtained on Jan.
27.84 UT with the Ekar-Copernico 1.82-m telescope (+ AFOSC).  Cross-correlation
with a library of supernova spectra via the "Supernova Identification" code
(SNID; Blondin and Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024) shows that 2012S is a type-II
supernova at z = 0.035, similar to SN 2004et at a few days after the explosion.

     G. H. Marion, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), on
behalf of the CfA Supernova Group, report that a spectrum (range 340-740 nm)
of PSN J01494770+3144496 = 2012S was obtained on Jan. 27 UT by J. Irwin with
the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST).  Cross-correlation
with a library of supernova spectra using the "Supernova Identification" code
(SNID; Blondin and Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024) shows that 2012S is a
type-IIP supernova near but after maximum light.  Prominent P-Cyg features
from Balmer-series lines are present, and a good fit is found to the template
of SN 2004et at one day post-maximum and at z = 0.037.


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 January 29                  (CBET 3003)              Daniel W. E. Green