Optical and near-infrared observations of the peculiar type Ia supernova 1999ac

We present 39 nights of optical photometry, 34 nights of IR photometry, and 4 nights of optical spectroscopy of the Type Ia supernova 1999ac. This supernova was discovered 2 weeks before maximum light, and observations were begun shortly thereafter. At early times its spectra resembled the unusual SN 1999aa and were characterized by very high velocities in the Ca II H and K lines but very low velocities in the Si II lambda 6355 line. The optical photometry showed a slow rise to peak brightness but, quite peculiarly, was followed by a more rapid decline from maximum. Thus, the B- and V- band light curves cannot be characterized by a single stretch factor. We argue that the best measure of the nature of this object is not the decline rate parameter Delta m(15)(B). The B-V colors were unusual from 30 to 90 days after maximum light in that they evolved to bluer values at a much slower rate than normal Type Ia supernovae. The spectra and bolometric light curve indicate that this event was similar to the spectroscopically peculiar slow decliner SN 1999aa.