Independent Discovery and Additional Photometry of a Recent Nova in M33
ATel #14355; J. Bryan (Georgetown, TX) and A. W. Shafter (SDSU)
on 28 Jan 2021; 23:05 UT
Credential Certification: Allen W. Shafter (ashafter@sdsu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
We report the independent discovery and additional photometry of PNV J01332200+3033012 (aka XM48MZ, AT2021bl), a recent nova in M33 originally announced by Mi Zhang and Xing Gao at the Xingming Observatory.
Our observations were obtained in Georgetown, Texas, with a 40-cm f/10 Ritchey-Chretien telescope and ZWO cooled CMOS camera. Approximate R-band magnitudes of the nova were derived with Astrometrica software and UCAC4. The estimated uncertainties are ± 0.25 mag.
UT Date R mag
----------------- -----
2021 Jan 03.10203 >20.9
2021 Jan 03.11905 >20.9
2021 Jan 03.12850 >20.9
2021 Jan 04.07568 17.2
2021 Jan 04.08639 17.2
2021 Jan 04.09698 17.3
2021 Jan 04.10611 17.4
2021 Jan 09.06791 20.1:
2021 Jan 09.07709 20.1:
2021 Jan 09.08600 20.1:
Our photometry shows that the nova was characterized by a t3 time of approximately 5 days, making it among the fastest novae. Consistent with its rapid decline, we note that a spectrum of the nova obtained by V. Karambelkar on behalf of the Zwicky Transient Facility collaboration reveals that the FWHM of the Hα emission line is of order 5000 km/s, suggesting that the nova is likely either a member of the broad-lined Fe II (Fe IIb) or He/N spectroscopic class in the scheme of Williams (1992).
