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Published August 1, 1985 | public
Journal Article

A peculiar supernova in the spiral galaxy NGC4618

Abstract

Optical spectra of a bright stellar object near the nucleus of the spiral galaxy NGC4618 reveal strong, very broad emission lines similar to those in quasars but having the wrong relative wavelengths. Although lines of hydrogen and helium are absent, the most prominent features can be attributed to neutral atoms of oxygen, sodium, and magnesium at the redshift of NGC4618. The object is almost certainly a supernova whose highly unusual spectrum may be indicative of a fundamentally new subclass.

Additional Information

© Nature Publishing Group 1985. Received 19 March; accepted 10 June 1985. We thank J. Carrasco, J. Henning, and D. Tennant for assistance at Palomar Observatory. A photograph confirming the presence of the supernova was obtained by E. A. Harlan with the 0.9-m Crossley telescope at Lick Observatory. R. A. Sramek provided radio data from the Very Large Array in Socorro, New Mexico. Informative discussions with K. Ebneter, J. L. Greenstein, C. F. McKee, and J. B. Oke are appreciated. This work was supported by the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science (University of California at Berkeley) and by NSF grant AST 82-16544.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023