Independent Discovery of a Probable Nova in M31
ATel #13425; H. Kucakova, K. Hornoch (Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, Czech Republic)
on 28 Jan 2020; 22:20 UT
Credential Certification: Allen W. Shafter (ashafter@sdsu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
Referred to by ATel #: 13430
We report the independent discovery of a probable nova in M31 on a co-added 1530-s R-band CCD frame taken on 2020 Jan. 28.706 UT with the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov.
The object was independently discovered and first announced by M. Zhang and X. Gao and designated as PNV J00425232+4116128 = AT 2020ber. The object was designated by us as M31N 2020-01b and is located at R.A. = 0h42m52s.36, Decl. = +41o16'13".0 (equinox 2000.0), which is 90.6" east and 4.5" north of the center of M31 (see link to discovery image below).
The following R-band magnitudes were obtained using the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov:
2020 Jan. 27.725 UT, [19.2; 28.706, 17.5 ± 0.15; 28.734, 17.4 ± 0.15; 28.750, 17.5 ± 0.15.
Discovery image
