2011CBET.2871....3T

S. Taubenberger and M. Klauser, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astrophysik; S. Hachinger, S. Benetti, and S. Valenti, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova; and M. Fiaschi, Dipartimento di Astronomia, Universita di Padova, on behalf of a larger collaboration, report that a spectrum of PSN J03293530+4052029 = SN 2011gy, obtained on Oct. 23.92 UT with the Ekar-Copernico 1.82-m Telescope (+ AFOSC; range 350-810 nm, resolution 2.4 nm) shows it to be a normal type-Ia supernova a few days before maximum light. Cross-correlation with a library of supernova spectra using GELATO (Harutyunyan et al. 2008, A.Ap. 488, 383; publicly available at https://gelato.tng.iac.es) yields a best match with spectra of SN 1998bu at half a week to one week before maximum light. Adopting a recession velocity 5061 km/s for MCG +7-8-15 (Emilio et al. 1999, PASP 111, 438; via NED), the expansion velocity measured from the Si II 635.5-nm line is about 12000 km/s.