THE INFRARED LIGHT CURVE OF SN 2011fe IN M101 AND THE DISTANCE TO M101

Abstract

We present near infra-red light curves of supernova (SN) 2011fe in M101,\nincluding 34 epochs in H band starting fourteen days before maximum brightness\nin the B-band. The light curve data were obtained with the WIYN High-Resolution\nInfrared Camera (WHIRC). When the data are calibrated using templates of other\nType Ia SNe, we derive an apparent H-band magnitude at the epoch of B-band\nmaximum of 10.85 \\pm 0.04. This implies a distance modulus for M101 that ranges\nfrom 28.86 to 29.17 mag, depending on which absolute calibration for Type Ia\nSNe is used.\n