2002IAUC.7987....2H

M. Hamuy, Carnegie Observatories, reports that a spectrum (range 380-920 nm) of SN 2002gd (cf. IAUC 7986), obtained on Oct. 8.26 UT with the Las Campanas Dupont 2.5-m telescope (+ WFCCD), shows it to be a type-II supernova with weak H-alpha, H-beta, and He I 587.6-nm lines exhibiting P-Cyg profiles. The weakness of these lines and the blue continuum suggest a young supernova. The absorption components yield a low expansion velocity of 5300 km/s, based on a redshift of 2560 km/s derived from the narrow Balmer emission lines of the host galaxy.