Possible optical nova in M 31
ATel #1329; W. Pietsch (Max-Planck-Institut fuer extraterrestrische Physik, MPE), V. Burwitz (MPE & Observatorio Astronomico de Mallorca, OAM), M. Henze (MPE), N. Morales (Observatorio La Sagra, OLS), J. Nomen (OAM, OLS)
on 14 Dec 2007; 18:34 UT
Credential Certification: Wolfgang Pietsch (wnp@mpe.mpg.de)
We report the discovery of an optical nova candidate in M 31 on 3*120s stacked unfiltered CCD images obtained with a 0.45m f/2.8 reflector and a SBIG STL-11000M CCD Camera (3008 pixels x 2674
pixels each 9 x 9 micron square), of the Observatorio Astronomico de La Sagra, Spain, on 2007 Dec 13.76 with a magnitude of 16.4. The position for the nova candidate is RA = 00h45m09.58s, Dec = +41d20'07.6" (J2000, accuracy of 0.2"), which is 1637" east and 239" north of the core of M 31. All magnitudes given are obtained from a photometric solution using R magnitudes from the USNO-B1 catalogue. No object is visible (limiting magnitude of ~18.0) at the position of the nova candidate on images with the same camera on Dec 6.78.
With the same instrument we find nova M31N 2007-11e (see http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/CBAT_M31.html ) on Dec 13.77 at mag 17.7 and nova M31N 2007-12b (see also ATel #1324) at mag 17.1.
The new nova candidate was already visible in��a 10*300s stacked unfiltered CCD image obtained with a 0.30-m f/2.8 reflector and a Apogee Alta U16 (4kx4k pixels each 9 x 9 micron square), of the Observatorio Astronomico de La Sagra, Spain, on 2007 Dec 12.95 with a magnitude of 16.8.
