A spectral survey in the 1 mm wavelength range was undertaken in the long-period comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) using the 30 m telescope of the Ins titut de radioastronomie millimétrique (IRAM) in April and November−December 2013. We report the detection of ethylene glycol (CH 2 OH) 2 (aGg' conformer) and formamide (NH 2 CHO) in the two comets. The abundances relative to water of ethylene glycol and formamide are 0.2-0.3% and 0.02% in the two comets, similar to the values measured in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). We also report the detection of HCOOH and CH 3 CHO in comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy), and a search for other complex species (methyl formate, glycolaldehyde).

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We present optical and near infrared (NIR) observations of the nearby Type Ia SN 2014J. Seventeen optical and twenty-three NIR spectra were obtained from 10 days before (−10d) to 10 days after (+10d) the time of maximum B-band brightness. The relative strengths of absorption features and their patterns of development can be compared at one day intervals throughout most of this period. Carbon is not detected in the optical spectra, but we identify C I λ1.0693 in the NIR spectra. We find that Mg II lines with high oscillator strengths have higher initial velocities than other Mg II lines. We show that the velocity differences can be explained by differences in optical depths due to oscillator strengths. The spectra of SN 2014J show it is a normal SN Ia, but many parameters are near the boundaries between normal and high-velocity subclasses. The velocities for O I, Mg II, Si II, S II, Ca II and Fe II suggest that SN 2014J has a layered structure with little or no mixing. That result is consistent with the delayed detonation explosion models. We also report photometric observations, obtained from −10d to +29d, in the U BV RIJH and K s bands. SN 2014J is about 3 magnitudes fainter than a normal SN Ia at the distance of M82, which we attribute to extinction in the host. The template fitting package SNooPy is used to interpret the light curves and to derive photometric parameters. Using R V = 1.46, which is consistent with previous studies, SNooPy finds that A V = 1.80 for E(B−V ) host = 1.23±0.01 mag. The maximum B-band brightness of −19.19±0.10 mag was reached on February 1.74 UT ±0.13 days and the supernova had a decline parameter of ∆m 15 = 1.11 ± 0.02 mag.

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