A flattening in the optical light curve of SN 2002ap

We present the UBVRcIc broad-band optical photometry of the Type Ic supernova SN 2002ap obtained during 2002 February 6-March 23 in the early decline phases and also later on 2002 August 15. Combining these data with the published ones, the general light-curve development is studied. The time and luminosity of the peak brightness and the peak width are estimated. There is a flattening in the optical light curve about 30 d after the B maximum. The flux decline rates before flattening are 0.127+/-0.005, 0.082+/-0.001, 0.074+/-0.001, 0.062+/-0.001 and 0.040+/-0.001 mag d(-1) in U, B, V, R-c and I-c passbands respectively, while the corresponding values after flattening are about 0.02 mag d(-1) in all the passbands. The maximum brightness of SN 2002ap, M-V = -17.2 mag, is comparable to that of the type Ic 1997ef, but fainter than that of the type Ic hypernova SN 1998bw. The peak luminosity indicates an ejection of similar to0.06 M-circle dot Ni-56 mass. We also present low-resolution optical spectra obtained during the early phases. The Si II absorption minimum indicates that the photospheric velocity decreased from similar to21 360 km s(-1) to similar to10 740 km s(-1) during a period of similar to6 d.