Discovery and Classification of Nova in M81 : P60-M81-080925
ATel #1764; M. M. Kasliwal, R. Quimby, S. B. Cenko, A. Rau, E. O. Ofek, S. R. Kulkarni (Caltech)
on 5 Oct 2008; 18:15 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Novae
Credential Certification: Mansi Manoj Kasliwal (mansi@astro.caltech.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
On UT 2008 Sep 25.49, P60-FasTING (Palomar 60-inch Fast Transients In Nearby Galaxies) discovered a nova in M81 at RA(J2000) = 09:55:59.35 DEC(J2000) = +69:05:57.1, offset from the nucleus by 2.35'E, 2.03'N. P60-M81-080925 had a brightness of g=19.5 +/- 0.1 at discovery (photometric calibration wrt SDSS catalog) and faded to g=20.8 on Oct 4.49. It is not detected, with 3-sigma upper limits of g > 21.5 on Jul 9.19.
Spectroscopic confirmation was obtained on Sep 29.51 using the Double Beam Spectrograph on the Hale telescope. Prominent Balmer lines (H-alpha FWHM ~3000 km/s through H-epsilon) are detected.
Fe II(42) lines secure the classification to Fe II nova (following Williams et al 94).
