Electronic Telegram No. 2670 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 2011ap IN IC 1277 = PSN J18102840+3100342 S. Nakano, Sumoto, Japan, reports the discovery by Koichi Itagaki (Teppo-cho, Yamagata, Japan) of an apparent supernova (mag 18.3) on a 15-s unfiltered CCD frame (limiting magnitude 19.5) taken on Feb. 21.856 UT using a 0.60-m f/5.7 reflector (+ BITRAN camera). The new object is located 14" east and 23" north of the center of IC 1277. Nothing is visible at this position on the Digitized Sky Survey (limiting mag about 20; no bandpass or plate type provided) on on Itagaki's image from 2006 Aug. 15.52 (limiting mag 20.5). The variable was designated PSN J18102840+3100342 when posted at the Central Bureau's TOCP webpage and is here designated 2011ap based on the spectroscopic report below. Reported astrometry and unfiltered CCD magnitudes for 2011ap: 2011 UT R.A. (2000.0) Decl. Mag. Observer Feb. 16.234 18 10 28.41 +31 00 34.3 18.5 Boles 18.547 18.5 Boles 21.856 18 10 28.40 +31 00 34.2 18.3 Itagaki 22.446 18 10 28.37 +31 00 34.1 17.6 Brimacombe 22.45 18 10 28.35 +31 00 33.5 18.3 Koff 22.469 18 10 28.36 +31 00 33.9 18.0 Yusa 22.730 18 10 28.35 +31 00 34.1 17.9 Kadota 22.841 18.1 Itagaki 23.508 16.8 Brimacombe 25.551 16.4 " Mar. 1.504 15.9 " 6.505 16.0 " T. Boles (Coddenham, England). 0.35-m reflector. Independent discovery (reported after Itagaki's discovery). Offset approximately 14".5 east and 22".8 north of the center of IC 1277. J. Brimacombe (Cairns, Australia). Remotely using a 51-cm RCOS telescope at New Mexico Skies Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A. Magnitude and position for Feb. 22 image measured by Boles (otherwise measured by Brimacombe). Brightness on Feb. 23 was 0.2 mag brighter than on Feb. 22. Images posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/43846774@N02/5472457359/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/43846774@N02/5477943145/, and http://www.flickr.com/photos/43846774@N02/5504029518/. Ken-ichi Kadota (Ageo, Japan). 0.25-m f/5 reflector + SBIG ST-9E camera (limiting mag 18.9); offset 13".5 east, 22".1 north. Communicated by Nakano. His image is posted at the following website URL: http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/kenic-k/image/PSNinIC1277-20110222.jpg. T. Yusa (Osaki, Japan). remotely with a 0.25-m f/3.4 hyperbolic astrograph + SBIG ST-10XME CCD camera at the RAS Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A. Three 120-s exposures (limiting mag 19.5). Offset 13".1 east, 22".6 south. Image posted at http://space.geocities.jp/yusastar77/PSNJ181028403100342.htm. R. A. Koff (Bennett, CO, U.S.A.). Twenty-five co-added 60-s images. Boles adds that Digitized Sky Survey plates (limiting red mag 20.5 and limiting blue mag 21.0) show a star-sized "hot spot" fainter than mag 20.0, and that nothing is visible at the position of 2011ap in Boles's archival images to limiting mag 19.5 taken over the last ten years. Itagaki has posted his discovery image at http://www.k-itagaki.jp/images/psn1277.jpg; his second- night image is posted at http://www.k-itagaki.jp/images/ic1277-2.jpg. The type-Ia supernova 2006gz also appeared in IC 1277 (cf. IAUC 8754). 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 J18102840+310034 = 2011ap was obtained on Mar. 8 UT by P. Berlind 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 2011ap is a type-IIn supernova a few days after maximum light. NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2011 CBAT 2011 March 10 (CBET 2670) Daniel W. E. Green