Observations of the supernova 1985F with a new spectrograph

We present the spectrum of the supernova 1985F over the wavelength range 4600 to 10000 Å as recorded in one 200 s exposure on 16 May, 1985, when its age was estimated to bet240 days. This wideband measurement with a resolution of 20 Å was made with the new Faint Object Spectrograph on the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos. Broad line features were observed for the ionsOi,Oii, andOiii, Caii, and Nai although broad H was noteably absent. This suggests type I rather than type II properties but Filippenko and Sargent (1985c) have concluded this object to be of neither type and of a new peculiar class. We have observed the Caii infra-red triplet at 8600 Å which has not been previously reported in the spectrum of SN1985F and alsoCi] at 9800 Å.