• DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/692/2/L84
• Corpus ID: 1435322

EARLY SPECTROSCOPIC IDENTIFICATION OF SN 2008D

@article{Malesani2008EARLYSI,
  title={EARLY SPECTROSCOPIC IDENTIFICATION OF SN 2008D},
  author={Daniele B. Malesani and Johan P. U. Fynbo and Jens Hjorth and Giorgos Leloudas and Jesper Sollerman and Maximilian D. Stritzinger and Paul M. Vreeswijk and Darach Watson and Javier Gorosabel and Michał Jerzy Michałowski and Christina C. Th{\"o}ne and Thomas Augusteijn and David Bersier and P. Jakobsson and Andreas O. Jaunsen and C{\'e}dric Ledoux and Andrew J. Levan and Bo Milvang-Jensen and Evert Rol and Nial R. Tanvir and Klaas Wiersema and D. S. Xu and Loic Albert and Matthew B. Bayliss and C. Gall and L. F. Grove and Benjamin P. Koester and Elisabet Leitet and Tapio Pursimo and Ian Skillen},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={2008},
  volume={692},
  pages={L84 - L87}
}

• D. Malesani, J. Fynbo, +27 authors I. Skillen
• Published 8 May 2008
• Physics
• The Astrophysical Journal

SN 2008D was discovered while following up an unusually bright X-ray transient (XT) in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2770. We present early optical spectra (obtained 1.75 days after the XT) which allowed the first identification of the object as a supernova (SN) at redshift z = 0.007. These spectra were acquired during the initial declining phase of the light curve, likely produced in the stellar envelope cooling after shock breakout, and rarely observed. They exhibit a rather flat spectral energy distribution with broad undulations, and a strong, W-shaped feature with minima at 3980 and 4190 Å (rest frame). We also present extensive spectroscopy and photometry of the SN during the subsequent photospheric phase. Unlike SNe associated with gamma-ray bursts, SN 2008D displayed prominent He features and is therefore of Type Ib.