2012CBET.3147....1S

E. Sanders, R. Kot, and D. Coffin report the discovery of an apparent supernova (mag 16.3) on a 180-s unfiltered CCD image taken with the 0.37-m f/14 Rigel telescope at the Iowa Robotic Observatory near Sonoita, Arizona, on June 7.15 UT. The new object is located at R.A. = 9:58:28.906, Decl. = -10:53:12.43 (equinox 2000.0), which is 3".51 west and 0".87 north of the nucleus of the presumed host galaxy. An unfiltered Rigel image taken on May 8.15 showed nothing at this position (limiting mag about 19). This galaxy was host to the type-IIp supernova 2011R (cf. CBET 2645). The variable was designated PSN J09582892-1053122 when it was posted at the Central Bureau's TOCP webpage and is here designated SN 2012cv based on the spectroscopic confirmation reported below. J. Brimacombe, Cairns, Australia, notes that images obtained on June 13.149 remotely with a 51-cm RCOS telescope (+ luminance filter + STL11K camera) at the New Mexico Skies Observatory near Mayhill, NM, U.S.A., yields mag 16.3 and position end figures 28s.92, 12".8; his image is posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/43846774@N02/7185668403/. Sanders forwards a report from M. L. Graham (University of California, Santa Barbara) that a 1000-s exposure with the Kast Double Spectrograph on the 3-m Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory on June 13 shows 2012cv to be a type-Ia supernova at z about 0.02, at a phase of about seven days past maximum brightness; classification was performed with the spectrum-template matching code 'Superfit' of Howell et al.