M31 Nova Candidate TSS J004054.4+405350

ATel #1173; R. Quimby, F. Castro, J. C. Wheeler (University of Texas) F. Yuan, C. Akerlof (University of Michigan)
on 9 Aug 2007; 02:54 UT
Credential Certification: Robert Quimby (quimby@astro.as.utexas.edu)

Tweet

We report the discovery of an optical transient in M31 from unfiltered CCD images taken around Aug. 6.3 UT (about 18.1 mag) and Aug. 8.3 (about 17.6 mag) by the 0.45m ROTSE-IIIb telescope at the McDonald Observatory. The nova candidate is located at RA = 00h40m54.4s DEC = +40o53'50.3" (J2000), which is 20' 39.3" west and 22' 18.2" south of the core of M31. TSS J004054.4+405350 was not detected in ROTSE-IIIb data from Jul. 25.44 UT (limiting mag about 18.5). A finding chart for the transient can be found at: http://grad40.as.utexas.edu/~quimby/tss/charts/nova14.png