Mario Hamuy, Carnegie Observatories, reports that a spectrum (range 380-920 nm)
of SN 2002gd, obtained on Oct. 08.26 UT with the Las Campanas Dupont 2.5-m
telescope (+ WFCCD), shows it to be a type-II supernova with
weak H alpha,  H beta, and He I 5876 lines exhibiting P-Cyg profiles.
The weakness of these lines and the blue continuum suggest a young
supernova. The absorption components yield a low expansion
velocity of 5300 km/s, based on a redshift of 2560 km/s derived from the narrow
Balmer emission lines of the host galaxy.


I obtained a spectrum of SN 2002gb with the same instrument on Oct. 08.23
which bears resemblance to the type-Ia SN 1994D 20 days past maximum.
By comparison to SN 1994D an approximate redshift of 0.074 is derived.