BOSS team SN 50

[Colin D]

Everyone,

I have attached a simple lightcurve for this SN.
Thanks to the BOSS team members and Roger Groom from WA for the images.
Listed are the measured R magnitudes, all from unfiltered images.
If anyone on the list can acquire filtered photometry it may be of high interest to the professionals, as this young type Ia SN is still brightening.

Congrats Peter, a great find for our 50th BOSS SN.

[PeterM]

Today I woke up to emails from 5 different professional astronomers all exited about this new Supernova. It is about 1 week away from maximum light. This means any data re brightness will be very useful indeed. Seems it will be followed by some of the worlds largest telescopes - valuable time that would have been used elsewhere. So much for those who think amateur discoveries of SN don't contribute the the science.

[pvelez (Pete)]

Originally Posted by PeterM

Today I woke up to emails from 5 different professional astronomers all exited about this new Supernova. Seems it is about 1 week away from maximum light. This means any data re brightness will be very useful indeed.

That explains the clouds in Sydney!

Will swap over to photometric filters in case it clears

Pete

[PeterM]

Hi all,
The official announcement has come through from CBAT - Central Bureau Astronomical Telegrams - the official body and part of the IAU (International Astronomical Union) based at Harvard University that catalogues/names astronomical discoveries
CBET 3346 (electronic telegram) designates the new discovery as SN2012hr in PGC18880.
Thanks again.

[Suzy]

Huge congratulations Peter on your 6th discovery and another round of applause for the Boss team's 50th!

Wow, that sn sure is sitting far outside that galaxy!
I can't wait to eyeball it when it gets a wee bit brighter.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Huge congratulations Peter on your 6th discovery and another round of applause for the Boss team's 50th!

Wow, that sn sure is sitting far outside that galaxy!
I can't wait to eyeball it when it gets a wee bit brighter.

I would love to see that Suzy
The weather has been to crap to observe it so far from Cambroon
Cheers

[LewisM]

Sirius should change it's name to Super Nova Central

Well done Peter. If only we had some clear skies to TRY to image it.

[mozzie (Peter)]

well done peter and the boss team!!!!
when the weather clears i'm going to have a wee little look at that.....

[PeterM]

We have an updated visual magnitude from an observer with AAVSO on the 27th noting 13.6 magnitude. A reasonably easy target for many scopes.
Happy hunting!

[pvelez (Pete)]

I've started monitoring this SN

Between 26 and 28 December its hovering around mag 13.77 in V and R. In B its brightened from 14.2 to 13.8. My results for I are a bit odd so I'll refrain from posting them now.

It might be levelling off but I don't have enough data to really make any comment. If the sky plays nicely I might have some information in a few days

At these mags, its really beyond my spectroscope. Perhaps next week when the moon rises later I'll give it a go anyway

Pete

[Terry B]

I was able to get a spectra of this tonight. It is pretty noisy but certainly looks like a type 1a SN.

https://gelato.tng.iac.es/plots/plot_sA5BOAg2H9gI.png

I have taken BVRI images as well but haven't processed them yet.
Cheers

Terry

[PeterM]

Oh wow, Terry & Pete you guys are shining lights on where amateur (did I say amateur) astronomy is heading. Fantastic!
Terry I have sent your spectra onto professional astronomers at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. BOSS have developed a relationship with them over the last 4 years and their support of amateur astronomers is something that is so very encouraging, they will be very impressed with your work and I will pass on any comments they make.
Jaw dropping stuff guys, the fact that your are in there doing this shows amateur astronomy is really looking up!

[pvelez (Pete)]

Originally Posted by Terry B

I was able to get a spectra of this tonight. It is pretty noisy but certainly looks like a type 1a SN.

https://gelato.tng.iac.es/plots/plot_sA5BOAg2H9gI.png

I have taken BVRI images as well but haven't processed them yet.
Cheers

Terry

Terry

Great work - as always

How many exposures in that spectrum and what was your integration time?

Pete

[Terry B]

Dear Peters
The exposure was 11x300s. There was a bit of cloud around so wih clear sky I should be able to do better.
Peter
If you want the fit file of the spectra to send to Chile just let me know.
Cheers
Terry

[Terry B]

I did better tonight. The sky was cloud free but it was very windy. This made sthe SN jump all around the slit.
6 x 10 min exposures.
It fits nicely now with a -1 day type 1a SN according to GELATO.
I looked up the redshift for the host galaxy and it is z = 0.007502
When I entered this value for the SN the match was better.
https://gelato.tng.iac.es/plots/plot_532JR0WE1aez.png

ps:this link brings up a warning about an out of date cert. The site seems safe though.

[pvelez (Pete)]

Thats a great match Terry - you should be pleased with that.

I plan on setting up the LISA on this one later in the week - if the clouds play nicely.

How is your BVRI data looking?

Pete

[pvelez (Pete)]

I managed a spectrum for this SN last night.

Its a bit more woolly than Terry's effort. I mucked up my calibration routine so this is simply based on the internal neon calibration lamp. Still, it looks a fair match to Terry's work.

Taken from suburban Sydney - 7km from the CBD. 7 x 600s exposures with ST-10XME with LISA mounted on an RC8.

Pete

[pvelez (Pete)]

The Gelato tool is so cool!

Here's my spectrum matched with 1996x - a Type Ia SN 3 days after maximum.

I can't believe there are such amazing tools available for amateurs.

Pete

[Terry B]

Well done Pete!
Did you take a spectra of a B9V or A0V star to correct the instrument response?
Gelato is a great tool I agree
Cheers
Terry

[pvelez (Pete)]

Originally Posted by Terry B

Well done Pete!
Did you take a spectra of a B9V or A0V star to correct the instrument response?

Terry

I tried

first I used Fomalhaut as it is the star I use to sync my mount at this time of year - too bright

Then I used a nearby star - turned out to be a double star so that mucked up the calibration.

I then finished off with an A0 star - for some reason (perhaps insufficient SNR) I couldn't do better than RMS of about 3.3.

Will concentrate on this more next time.

Based on your last spectrum and mine, we have maximum for this SN at around 31 December. How does that sit with your BVRI data?

Pete