Electronic Telegram No. 3820
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 2014X IN ESO 379-G31 = PSN J12104022-3403407
     Stuart Parker, Canterbury, New Zealand, reports the discovery of an
apparent supernova (red mag 16.8) on a 30-s unfiltered CCD image (limiting
mag 19) taken on Mar. 1.484 UT with a 35-cm Celestron C14 reflector (+ ST10
camera) at his Parkdale Observatory in the course of the Backyard Observatory
Supernova Search.  The new object is located at R.A. = 12h10m40s.22, Decl. =
-34d03'40".7 (equinox 2000.0; reference stars from USNO-B and UCAC4
catalogues), which is 11" east and 14" south of the nucleus of the galaxy ESO
379-G31.  Nothing is visible at this position on Digitized Sky Survey red and
infrared images (limiting red magnitude > 19).  An image of the variable can
be viewed via website URL http://tinyurl.com/lopk7sv.  The variable was
designated PSN J12104022-3403407 when it was posted at the Central Bureau's
TOCP webpage and is here designated SN 2014X based on the spectroscopic
confirmation reported below.

     M. Childress, R. Scalzo, F. Yuan, and B. Schmidt, Australian National
University (ANU); and B. Tucker, ANU and University of California, Berkeley,
report spectroscopic classification of PSN J12104022-3403407 = SN 2014X from
a 40-m spectrogram taken on Mar. 4.7 UT with the Wide Field Spectrograph (cf.
Dopita et al. 2007, Ap. Space Sci. 310, 255) on the ANU 2.3-m telescope at
Siding Spring using the B3000/R3000 gratings (wavelength range 350-980 nm at
0.1-nm resolution).  The spectrum indicates that 2014X is a type-Ia supernova
about three weeks after maximum light.  Classification with SNID (Blondin and
Tonry, 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024) shows good matches to SN 1997do at phase +21 days
and SN 1981B at phase +22 days.  The preferred SNID redshift is about 0.022.
The Ca near-infrared triplet is evident in absorption, as is Si 635.5-nm and
adjacent Fe lines (a sign of old age).  Most line profiles appear strongly
impacted by emission, indicating late phases.


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      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2014 CBAT
2014 March 10                    (CBET 3820)              Daniel W. E. Green