- Zheng, WeiKang;
- Silverman, Jeffrey M;
- Filippenko, Alexei V;
- Kasen, Daniel;
- Nugent, Peter E;
- Graham, Melissa;
- Wang, Xiaofeng;
- Valenti, Stefano;
- Ciabattari, Fabrizio;
- Kelly, Patrick L;
- Fox, Ori D;
- Shivvers, Isaac;
- Clubb, Kelsey I;
- Cenko, S Bradley;
- Balam, Dave;
- Howell, D Andrew;
- Hsiao, Eric;
- Li, Weidong;
- Marion, G Howie;
- Sand, David;
- Vinko, Jozsef;
- Wheeler, J Craig;
- Zhang, JuJia
The Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2013dy in NGC 7250 (d ≈ 13.7 Mpc) was discovered by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search. Combined with a prediscovery detection by the Italian Supernova Search Project, we are able to constrain the first-light time of SN 2013dy to be only 0.10 ± 0.05 days (2.4 ± 1.2 hr) before the first detection. This makes SN 2013dy the earliest known detection of an SN Ia. We infer an upper limit on the radius of the progenitor star of R 0 ≲ 0.25 R ⊙, consistent with that of a white dwarf. The light curve exhibits a broken power law with exponents of 0.88 and then 1.80. A spectrum taken 1.63 days after first light reveals a C II absorption line comparable in strength to Si II. This is the strongest C II feature ever detected in a normal SN Ia, suggesting that the progenitor star had significant unburned material. The C II line in SN 2013dy weakens rapidly and is undetected in a spectrum 7 days later, indicating that C II is detectable for only a very short time in some SNe Ia. SN 2013dy reached a B-band maximum of MB = -18.72 ± 0.03 mag ∼17.7 days after first light. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.