2005IAUC.8498....1E

N. Elias-Rosa, S. Benetti, E. Cappellaro, and M. Dolci, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica; and A. Pastorello, Max-Planck- Institut, report that a spectrum of the new object in NGC 4656 (cf. IAUC 8497), obtained on Mar. 23.9 UT by W. Boschin and N. Pinilla Alonso with the TNG telescope (+ Dolores; range 350-800 nm, resolution 1.2 nm), shows a relatively blue continuum dominated by a narrow (730 km/s) H_alpha emission, while the other Balmer lines are not visible. The broader component of the H_alpha line often seen in type-IIn supernovae is not apparent. The spectrum also shows narrow (1.5-nm) absorptions due to H and K of Ca II. This object may be a superoutburst of a luminous blue variable rather than a true supernova, similar to SN 1997bs (IAUC 6627; Van Dyk et al. 2000, PASP 112, 1532) and 1999bw (IAUC 7152).