Supernova 2005aw

SN 2005al, our sixth discovery, was found on 2005 March 24.27, one month after the discovery of SN 2004al. Confirmation from IAU came on IAUC 8499. This supernova was located in the galaxy IC 4837A, more precisely at R.A 19^o 15' 17.44" and Dec -54^o 08' 24.9". Its offset from the center of the galaxy was 13” E and 30” N. Apparent (unfiltered) magnitude was measured as 15.3 in the day of discovery.

IC 4837A is a Southern spiral galaxy of the SA(s) b morphological class. Its apparent integrated magnitude reaches 12.5 and its dimensions are 4.1 x 0.6 arcmin. Given its measured recession speed (2847 km/s) and redshift (0.00950), both from NED data, we can estimate its distance as roughly 40.7 megaparsecs (or some 133 million light years), assuming a Hubble constant of 70 km/s.Mpc.

Absolute magnitude of SN 2004aw on its discovery was calculated based on our own photometric measures and on NED data, resulting on Mv = –17.8. Spectra available from IAU have defined this SN as a Type Ic supernova".