Independent Discovery of a Slowly Brightening Possible Nova in M31
ATel #15170; K. Hornoch, H. Kucakova (Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, Czech Republic)
on 19 Jan 2022; 23:27 UT
Credential Certification: Allen W. Shafter (ashafter@sdsu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
Referred to by ATel #: 15198
We report the independent discovery of a slowly brightening possible nova in M31 on a co-added 900-s R-band CCD frame taken on 2022 Jan. 15.717 UT with the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov. We found the new transient object as a faint source and postponed its announcement until we had additional images confirming the ongoing brightening of the object, supporting its possible nova nature.
The object was independently discovered on Jan. 16.587 UT by M. Zhang and X. Gao and designated as PNV J00430928+4116013 = AT 2022uz. The object was designated by us as M31N 2022-01a and is located at R.A. = 0h43m09s.30, Decl. = +41o16'00".9 (equinox 2000.0), which is 281.6" east and 7.6" south of the center of M31 (see link to discovery and confirmation image below).
The following R-band magnitudes were obtained using the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov:
2022 Jan. 2.714 UT, [20.3; 15.717, 19.5 ± 0.2; 19.709, 19.1 ± 0.15.
As with all extragalactic novae, follow-up spectroscopic and photometric observations to confirm the nova's nature and determine its spectroscopic class and rate of decline (speed class) are encouraged.
Discovery and confirmation image
