* Astronomy

Title: Optical observations of a SN 2002cx-like peculiar supernova SN 2013en in UGC 11369
Author: Zheng-Wei Liu, Jujia Zhang, Fabrizio Ciabattari, Lina Tomasella, Xiaofeng Wang, Xulin Zhao, Tianmeng Zhang, Yuxin Xin, ChuanJun Wang, Liang Chang

We present optical observations of a SN 2002cx-like supernova SN 2013en in UGC 11369, spanning from a phase near maximum light (t= +1 d) to t= +60 d with respect to the R-band maximum. Adopting a distance modulus of mu=34.11 ± 0.15 mag and a total extinction (host galaxy+Milky Way) of AV~1.5 mag, we found that SN 2013en peaked at M(R)~-18.6 mag, which is underluminous compared to the normal SNe Ia. The near maximum spectra show lines of Si II, Fe II, Fe III, Cr II, Ca II and other intermediate-mass and iron group elements which all have lower expansion velocities (i.e., ~ 6000 km/s). The photometric and spectroscopic evolution of SN 2013en is remarkably similar to those of SN 2002cx and SN 2005hk, suggesting that they are likely to be generated from a similar progenitor scenario or explosion mechanism.

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