Electronic Telegram No. 3056
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 2012ay
     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.
 2012ay   Feb. 24.32   9 43 25.71  - 6 53 35.9   18.1

Further CSS magnitudes for 2012ay:  Feb. 1.32 UT, [20.2; Mar. 1.37, 18.6; Mar.
16.23, 19.1.

     L. Tomasella, S. Valenti, A. Pastorello, S. Benetti, and P. Ochner,
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, report
that a spectrogram of 2012ay, obtained on Mar. 16.85 UT with the 1.82-m
Copernico Telescope (+ AFOSC; range 340-790 nm, resolution 2.2 nm), indicates
that it is a normal type-Ia supernova.  Cross-correlation with a library of
supernova spectra via the "Supernova Identification" code (SNID; Blondin and
Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024) shows that 2012ay is similar to several type-Ia
supernovae at about one month after maximum.


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT
2012 March 21                    (CBET 3056)              Daniel W. E. Green