Persistent C II absorption in the normal type Ia supernova 2002fk

We present well-sampled UBVRIJHK photometry of SN 2002fk starting 12 days before maximum light through 122 days after peak brightness, along with a series of 15 optical spectra from –4 to +95 days since maximum. Our observations show the presence of C II lines in the early-time spectra of SN 2002fk, expanding at 11,000 km s^–1 and persisting until 8 days past maximum light with a velocity of ∼9000 km s^–1. SN 2002fk is characterized by a small velocity gradient of v-dot _{Si II}=26 km s^–1 day^–1, possibly caused by an off-center explosion with the ignition region oriented toward the observer. The connection between the viewing angle of an off-center explosion and the presence of C II in the early-time spectrum suggests that the observation of C II could be also due to a viewing angle effect. Adopting the Cepheid distance to NGC 1309 we provide the first H ₀ value based on near-infrared (near-IR) measurements of a Type Ia supernova (SN) between 63.0 ± 0.8 (±3.4 systematic) and 66.7 ± 1.0 (±3.5 systematic) km s^–1 Mpc^–1, depending on the absolute magnitude/decline rate relationship adopted. It appears that the near-IR yields somewhat lower (6%-9%) H ₀ values than the optical. It is essential to further examine this issue by (1) expanding the sample of high-quality near-IR light curves of SNe in the Hubble flow, and (2) increasing the number of nearby SNe with near-IR SN light curves and precise Cepheid distances, which affords the promise to deliver a more precise determination of H ₀.