SN2002dj in NGC 5018

This image of Supernova 2002dj was taken at the 0.9-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile on 14 June 2002. SN 2002dj is a Type-Ia supernova located in the nearby, early-type galaxy NGC5018. The supernova is the bluish object to the right of the galactic center. NGC5018 is located in the constellation Coma Berenices, at an estimated distance of 130 million light-years from Earth. The supernova was caught almost two weeks before its maximum light, one of the earliest observations to date. The supernova was discovered by D.Hutchings and W.D.Li of the Lick Observatory and Tenagra Observatory Supernova Searches (LOTOSS), using the 0.8-meter Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope at Lick. The data shown here were taken as part of the CTIO Bright Supernova Project, conducted by Nicholas Suntzeff, Chris Smith, Kevin Krisciunas, and Pablo Candia of CTIO. The aim of the survey is to characterize Type-Ia supernovae in the infrared where dust extinction is very small. These data will be used to measure distances accurate to 5 percent for the measurement of the Hubble constant and the acceleration of the Universe. Data taken with the CTIO 0.9-meter and YALO 1-meter telescopes, and at the Las Campanas Observatory 1-meter and 2.5-meter telescopes (in collaboration with Mark Phillips of LCO), will be used in these measurements.