Supernova 1997bp in NGC 4680

L. Wang and J. C. Wheeler, University of Texas, communicate: "Spectropolarimetry of SN 1997bp was obtained on Apr. 7.2 UT with the 2.7-m telescope (+ SPOL) at McDonald Observatory. Preliminary reduction of the data (total exposure 4 hr) indicates polarization variation at a level of > 0.5 percent across the strong Si II 635.5-nm feature. Such a variation is indicative of intrinsic polarization of the supernova. More observations, particularly polarimetry, are strongly encouraged. For comparison, our data on SN 1997bp can be accessed at http://tycho.as.utexas.edu/~lifan, or by e-mail to lifan@astro.as.utexas.edu."