SALT confirmation of PNV J17244011-2421463 as a classical nova

ATel #11338; E. Aydi (South African Astronomical Observatory, University of Cape Town), D. A. H. Buckley (SAAO), S. Mohamed (SAAO, UCT), P. A. Whitelock (SAAO, UCT)
on 23 Feb 2018; 13:01 UT
Credential Certification: David Buckley (dibnob@saao.ac.za)

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We report on high-resolution spectroscopy of PNV J17244011-2421463 which was reported as a possible nova by T. Kojima, Gunma-ken, Japan (CBAT follow-up: http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/unconf/followups/J17244011-2421463.html ).

We obtained a 1200 s spectrum of this object under the SALT Large Science Program on transients on 2018 February 23.127 (HJD 2458172.6254), using the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS; Crause et al. 2014, Proc. SPIE, 91476) mounted on the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). Observations were taken in the LR mode of HRS, covering a spectral range of 3800-8900 Å at a resolution of R = 14,000. The data were reduced with the SALT HRS MIDAS pipeline (Kniazev et al. 2016, MNRAS 459, 3068).

The spectrum is dominated by narrow emission lines of H I, Fe II, Na I, Al II, Ca II, Mg I, Mg II, O I, [O II], [O III], and N II (see below a full list of the line identification). We also note the presence of relatively weak He I lines. The lines are characterized by strong absorption dips on top of the emission features. The absorption dip is at around +60 km/s. We measure a FWZI of ~1300 ± 100 km/s (for Hα and Hβ). The emission lines and their profiles are characteristic of a classical novae of the Fe II spectroscopic class. The presence of weak [O III] 4959 and 5007 lines might indicate that the nova is evolving towards the nebular phase.

Line identifications:
H I (Balmer): 4102, 4340, 4861 and 6563Å
Ca II: 8498, 9542, and 8662Å
Na I (D): 5892Å
Al II: 4663 and 6237Å
Mg I: 5528Å
Mg II: 7896 and 8232Å
N II: 6364 and 7452Å
O I: 7773 and 8446Å
[O I]: 5577, 6300 and 6364Å
[O III] 4959 and 5007 AÅ
He I: 4144, 4388, 4471, 4713, 4924, 5016, 5876 and 6678Å

Fe II lines:
Multiplet (27): 4233, 4303, 4352, and 4385Å
Multiplet (37): 4491, 4515, 4556, and 4629Å
Multiplet (38): 4508, 4523, 4549, and 4584Å
Multiplet (41): 5284Å
Multiplet (42): 4924, 5018 and 5169Å
Multiplet (46): 5991 and 6084Å
Multiplet (48): 5265, 5317, 5363,and 5414Å
Multiplet (49): 5198, 5235, 5276, 5317 and 5425Å
Multiplet (55): 5535Å
Multiplet (73): 7308, 7462 and 7712Å
Multiplet (74): 6148, 6248, 6417 and 6456 AÅ

Possible lines:
H I (Paschen): 8454, 8598 and 8750Å
[O II]: 7320/30Å

Relatively strong unidentified emission features at:
4731, 6433, 6516, 7515 and 7534Å

Relatively weak unidentified emission features at:
4763, 4781, 4799, 4805, 4814, 4824, 4848 5129, 5337, 5433, 5281, 6319, 6370 and 6493Å