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R.N. Durham (Hampshire College), D.C. Leonard (Five College Astronomy Department, Umass-Amherst), A.V. Fillipenko, W. Li, R. Chornock (UC Berkeley)
We present extensive optical photometry and spectroscopy sampling the first six months after discovery of supernova (SN) 2001X in NGC 5921, obtained as part of the Lick Observatory and Tenagra Observatory Supernova Searches. SN 2001X exhibits the classic spectral and photometric features of a Type II-Plateau supernova (SN II-P), with an optical plateau lasting until about 100 days after discovery. We derive the distance to SN 2001X using the Expanding Photosphere Method (EPM; Kirshner & Kwan 1974, ApJ, 193, 27), a primary distance-determining method. In addition, we estimate the distance to SN 2001X using the recently developed standardized-candle method (SCM; Hamuy & Pinto 2002, ApJL, 566, L63), a promising secondary technique; for the absolute calibration of the SCM, we rely on the recent Cepheid distance derived to NGC 1637, the host galaxy of the Type II-P SN 1999em (Leonard et al. 2003, ApJ, 594, 247). We compare the two distances, and discuss the implications on the use of SNe II-P as extragalactic distance indicators. We gratefully acknowledge the undergraduate biological sciences education program grant of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to Hampshire College (HHMI #71100-503803) for its support of this work.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #2
© YEAR. The American Astronomical Soceity.