Electronic Telegram No. 2974 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 2012A IN NGC 3239 = PSN J10250739+1709146 B. Moore, J. Newton, and T. Puckett report the discovery of an apparent supernova (mag 14.6) on an unfiltered CCD image (limiting mag 18.8) taken with a 0.40-m reflector at Portal, AZ, U.S.A., on Jan. 7.3869 UT in the course of the Puckett Observatory Supernova Search. The new object, which was confirmed at mag 14.4 on Jan. 8.3352 by Puckett with the 40-cm reflector at Portal, is located at R.A. = 10h25m07s.39, Decl. = +17o09'14".6 (equinox 2000.0), which is 25" east and 16" south of the center of the irregular galaxy NGC 3239. Nothing is visible at this position on images taken by Puckett on 2011 Dec. 29 (limiting mag 19.0). An image has been posted by the discoverers at website URL http://www.possdata.com/PSNJ10250739+1709146.jpg. The variable was designated PSN J10250739+1709146 when it was posted at the Central Bureau's TOCP webpage and is here designated SN 2012A based on the spectroscopic confirmation reported below. Additional CCD magnitudes reported for 2012A (unfiltered unless noted otherwise): Jan. 9.054 UT, 13.9 (F. Luppi and Luca Buzzi, Varese, Italy; 0.38-m f/6.8 reflector; position end figures 07s.38, 14".3; reference stars from CMC-14 catalogue; image posted at the following website URL: http://www.astrogeo.va.it/pub/TOCP/PSN_N3239.jpg); 9.182, 13.9 (T. Yusa, Osaki, Japan, remotely using a 0.43-m f/4.4 reflector + FLI ProLine EV2 CCD47-10-1-109 camera at the AstroCamp Observatory, Nerpio, Spain; limiting mag 16.5; position end figures 07s.42, 14".4; offset 33" east and 31" south, though highly uncertain due to difficulty in determining any center to NGC 3239; UCAC3 reference stars; image posted at the following website URL: http://space.geocities.jp/yusastar77/supernova/PSNinNGC3239_120109.htm); 9.221, R = 15.57 (Hidetaka Sato, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Japan; remotely using a 0.43-m f/4.5 reflector + EV2 CCD47-10-1-109 camera at iTelescope Astrocamp Observatory, Nerpio; position end figures 07s.40, 14".4; USNO-A2.0 reference stars); 9.511, 13.8 (R. A. Koff, Bennett, CO, USA; Meade 0.25-m f/10 reflector + Apogee AP-47p camera; bright Moon; limiting magnitude 17.5; position end figures 07s.37, 14".6; UCAC3 reference stars; image posted at website URL http://antelopehillsobservatory.org/SNpictures/PSNJ10250739+1709146final.jpg); 9.723, 13.1 (Joseph Brimacombe, Cairns, Australia; 41-cm RCOS telescope + STL6K camera + infrared filter; bandpass > 700 nm; position end figures 07s.38, 14".2; image posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/43846774@N02/6669618061/); 10.042, B = 14.12 +/- 0.10, V = 14.02 +/- 0.07, R = 13.85 +/- 0.07, I = 13.93 +/- 0.10 (Gyula M. Szabo, MTA Konkoly Observatory, Piszkesteto, Hungary; automated 40-cm telescope + FLI ML8300 CCD camera); 10.071, V = 13.7 (M. Martignoni, Magnago, Italy, 25-cm f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector). V. Stanishev, Centro Multidisciplinar de Astrofisica, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, on behalf of a larger collaboration, reports that a spectrum of PSN J10250739+1709146 = SN 2012A, obtained on Jan. 10.145 UT by T. Pursimo with the Nordic Optical Telescope (+ ALFOSC; range 350-920 nm), shows it to be a type-II supernova soon after explosion. NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars. (C) Copyright 2012 CBAT 2012 January 11 (CBET 2974) Daniel W. E. Green