SALT spectral observations of a new, bright, southern CV: MASTER OT J142023.5-485540

ATel #5207; A. A.S. Gulbis, M. M. Kotze, E. J. Kotze, H. L. Worters (South African Astronomical Observatory), D. A.H. Buckley, D. O'Donoghue (Southern African Large Telescope), M. Shara (American Museum of Natural History)
on 15 Jul 2013; 21:05 UT
Credential Certification: Hannah Worters (hannah@saao.ac.za)

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On 2013-06-24.063 UT, the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT; Buckley et al. 2006; O’Donoghue et al. 2006) observed MASTER OT J142023.5-485540 (RA=14h 20m 23.5s; Dec=-48d 55m 40s). This outbursting CV was discovered by MASTER-ICATE on 2013-06-08.048 UT and followup observations were requested in ATEL #5144. Four long-slit spectra were taken with the Robert Stobie Spectrograph (RSS; Burgh et al. 2003, Kobulnicky et al. 2003) in two instrument settings covering the wavelength ranges 3194.7-6306.0 Angstroms and 5874.7-8887.2 Angstroms. In each wavelength range, 90 s and 600 s exposures were acquired. With a 1.5" slit, the spectra had resolutions of ~800 (blue) and ~1200 (red). At more than two weeks from the reported detection during an outburst in ATEL #5144, MASTER OT J142023.5-485540 had a V magnitude of 14.1 +/- 0.3 and its spectra exhibited characteristics of a dwarf nova in quiescence. All of the lines in the Balmer series were present in emission. The most prominent lines in the spectra were H-alpha, H-beta and H-gamma with Gaussian FWHMs of 29.6, 22.9, and 26.4 Angstroms respectively. In addition, a He I line at 5876A line was present with Gaussian FWHM of 9.0 Angstroms.