Letter to the Editor

Discovery of the heavily obscured supernova 2002cv

¹ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma (OAR), via Frascati 33, Monte Porzio Catone, Roma, Italy
² Astronomical Institute of St. Petersburg University, St. Petersburg, Petrodvorets, Universitetsky pr. 28, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russia
³ Isaac Newton Institute of Chile, St. Petersburg Branch
⁴ Central Astronomical Observatory, St. Petersburg, Russia
⁵ Università di Roma , Roma, Italy
⁶ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Teramo (OACT), Teramo, Italy

Corresponding author: A. Di Paola, dipaola@mporzio.astro.it

Received: 17 June 2002
Accepted: 11 August 2002

Abstract

On the 13th of May 2002, supernova 2002cv was discovered using a near-infrared camera working at the 1.1 m telescope at Campo Imperatore (AQ-Italy). After the infrared detection a simultaneous photometric follow-up was started at optical wavelengths. The preliminary results confirm a heavily obscured object with a color not lower than 6 mag, making SN 2002cv the most reddened supernova ever observed. This finding, along with the recent discovery of another obscured supernova, suggests a critical revision of the rates known to date. The estimate of the visual extinction and the light curves are provided here. These latter indicate that our SN 2002cv observations are the earliest available for a type-Ia supernova at IR wavelengths.