SIMBAD references

P. Challis, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), on behalf of the CfA Supernova Group, reports that a spectrum (range 350-740 nm) of 2008if (cf. CBET 1619), obtained on Dec. 19 UT by P. Berlind with the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.5-m telescope (+ FAST), shows it to be a young type-II supernova. The spectrum consists of a blue continuum with shallow P-Cyg profiles of the Balmer series and He I (587.6 nm). Cross-correlation with a library of supernova spectra using the "Supernova Identification" code (Blondin and Tonry 2007, Ap.J. 666, 1024) indicates that 2008if is most similar to a type-II supernova at an early phase.