SIMBAD references

Optical spectra (range 420-890 nm) of 2008am, obtained on Jan. 29.35 under poor conditions and again on Jan. 30.35 with the 9.2-m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (+ Marcario Low-Resolution Spectrograph) by S. Rostopchin and V. Riley, show it to be a type-II supernova. The spectra consist of blue continua superposed by hydrogen Balmer emission lines (narrow and broad). Overall, the spectra are similar to those of the type-IIn supernova 1996L (cf. IAUC 6346) at early times (Benetti et al. 1999, MNRAS 305, 811). The Jan. 30 data also clearly show narrow emission features from O III 495.9- and 500.7-nm and O II 372.7-nm. All narrow features are consistent with a systematic redshift of z = 0.234.