SOAR spectroscopic confirmation of a new classical nova in Scorpius
ATel #13112; J. Strader, L. Chomiuk, S. Swihart, E. Aydi, A. Kawash, K. V. Sokolovsky (MSU), K. Stanek, C. Kochanek (OSU), B. Shappee (Hawaii)
on 16 Sep 2019; 01:59 UT
Credential Certification: Jay Strader (strader@pa.msu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Binary, Nova, Transient
A candidate classical nova (PNV J17370958-3510211) was discovered by K. Itagaki on 2019 Sep 15.42 (UT). We recover the source in ASAS-SN imaging with a first detection on 2019 Sep 14.14 at g=13.5 and a constraining upper limit (g>16.9) on 2019 Sep 12.14.
We obtained spectra of this source with the Goodman Spectrograph on the SOAR telescope on UT 2019 Sep 16.01. The spectra have a red continuum dominated by very broad P Cygni profiles of H I, O I, and Fe II. The FWZI of H-alpha is approximately 6900 km/s. Hence we confirm this source as a Galactic classical nova. The red continuum and the minimal flux below ~ 4400 Ang suggests substantial foreground reddening, consistent with its low Galactic latitude. The nova is still rising in ASAS-SN imaging (most recent measurement g=13.1) indicating that it has not yet reached peak.
Our best ICRS position of the nova is 17:37:09.539 -35:10:23.26, with an uncertainty of about 0.1" per coordinate. There are no known sources at this location in Vizier.
