3-14 micron spectroscopy of Nova V445 Puppis

We report 3-14 mum spectroscopy of the nova V445 Puppis on 2001 January 31.45 UT using the Broadband Array Spectrograph System on the Infrared Telescope Facility, approximately 1 month after the object was discovered. The spectrum (W cm(-2) mum(-1)) revealed only a smooth, featureless continuum that decreases monotonically with increasing wavelengths between 3 and 13.6 mum. Its slope is much shallower than the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of a blackbody. The spectrum is consistent with thermal emission from gray (constant) emissivity dust whose temperatures ranged from around 280 K to upward of 1300 K. IR magnitudes were L = 2.8, M = 1.6, and N= -0.27, all +/-0.02. The presence of such strong IR continuum emission so early after the nova's outburst may suggest that this object has undergone previous outbursts and that we observed preexisting dust, at least in part.