Spectroscopic Confirmation of TCP J07134590-2112330 as a Galactic Classical Nova in Canis Major
ATel #11475; Jay Strader, Laura Chomiuk, Arash Bahramian, Sam Swihart (Michigan State)
on 25 Mar 2018; 04:21 UT
Credential Certification: Laura Chomiuk (chomiuk@pa.msu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
TCP J07134590-2112330 was discovered by Yuji Nakamura on 2018 March 24.5 UT as a 12 mag optical transient. We obtained spectroscopic observations of TCP J07134590-2112330 with the Goodman spectrograph on the 4-m SOAR telescope on 2018 Mar 25.1 UT, with a low-resolution spectrum (R~1200) covering 3850--7850 A. The spectrum indicates that TCP J07134590-2112330 is a young classical nova, with strong hydrogen Balmer emission lines and additional strong lines of [O I] and Fe II. The Balmer lines show P Cygni profiles; the FWHM of the H alpha emission component is 1250 km/s, and the absorption trough extends to -2000 km/s.
Astrometry of the acquisition image implies that this transient is identical to a source in the Pan-STARRS1 catalog with g=21.5 and r=21.2. The Pan-STARRS1 J2000 position of TCP J07134590-2112330 is RA = 07h13m45.843s , Dec = -21d12'31.28", with a catalog uncertainty of about 25 mas per coordinate.
