Electronic Telegram No. 3036
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 2012ao
     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 Mount Lemmon Survey (MLS) images:

 SN       2012 UT        R.A. (2000.0) Decl.      Mag.      Offset
 2012ao   Feb. 25.49   15 16 42.88  -14 38 38.1   19.8      1" S

Nothing was visible at this position on MLS images from 2011 May 26.34 UT
(limiting mag 21.5).

     S. W. Jha, C. McCully, and B. Patel, Rutgers University, report that a
spectrum (range 460-980 nm) of 2012ao, taken on Feb. 26.6 UT with the Keck II
10-m telescope (+ DEIMOS), shows it to be a type-Ia supernova approximately
three weeks past maximum light.  Cross-correlation with a library of supernova
spectra using the "Supernova Identification" code (SNID; Blondin and Tonry
2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024) yields a good match to the spectrum of the normal
type-Ia supernova 1981B at 20 days past maximum.  The spectral features of
2012ao suggest a redshift for its host galaxy of between 0.06 and 0.07.


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 February 27                 (CBET 3036)              Daniel W. E. Green