As we described before, when working on astronomical transients, besides having great people on your team (check) and excellent software and hardware (check), it is also good to be lucky. Unlike that time, this time we were a bit lucky. Normally, ASAS-SN robotic telescopes try to take an image of every spot on the sky once every few nights, weather permitting. In case of ASASSN-14lp, we observed the field with its host galaxy, The Superwind Galaxy NGC 4666 on December 8th, 2014, but as determined by our automated system, these images were of poor quality due to some clouds, so another set of images was taken on December 9th, 2014. ASASSN-14lp was easily detected in these images as a new object with V=14.3, so very bright aleady, and quickly confirmed using one of the robotic LCOGT 1-m telescopes.

Spectrum of the transient taken the next day revealed ASASSN-14lp to be a Type Ia supernova (thank you, John and Erek!), and it continued to brighten, becoming bright enough to trigger HST UV spectroscopy follow-up program. ASASSN-14lp is now about V=12.0, easily making it the brightest known supernova currently on the sky, and it will remain bright for weeks to come. Here we show two recent color images of the supernova and its host galaxy, the one on the left made by our "ad hoc" collaborator Seiichiro Kiyota (Japan) using data from the 0.43-m telescope at Nerpio, Spain, the other one made by Tom Holoien using follow-up images obtained by ASAS-SN team with one of the robotic LCOGT 1-m telescopes. We don't mark the supernova, it is so bright it is obvious.

There are many reasons why such bright and nearby Type Ia supernovae, while rare, are particularly valuable. We mentioned one already, namely they can be studied in great detail using a variety of ground and space telescopes. Second, about a year later, after the supernova fades significantly, one can take its spectra using a really big telescope to search for clues revealing the exact nature of these still mysterious events. Finally, for such a nearby host galaxy with a Type Ia supernova one could also use HST to look for Cepheid variables to help determine the Hubble constant from optical and infrared observations of Cepheid variables. We don't know if such observations will take place in this case, but NGC 4666 is certainly in HST range. So, again, stay tuned!