SOAR spectroscopic classification of PNV J05222788-6936333 as a classical nova in the LMC
ATel #15392; E. Aydi, J. Strader, L. Chomiuk, K. V. Sokolovsky, A. Kawash (MSU)
on 23 May 2022; 00:16 UT
Credential Certification: Elias Aydi (aydielia@msu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Binary, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Star, Transient
We report on spectroscopic follow up of the optical transient PNV J05222788-6936333, which was discovered by the Brazilian Transient Search - BraTS - at SONEAR Observatory, Oliveira, Brazil on 2022-05-21.89 UT, as a possible nova in the Large Magellanic Cloud at an unfiltered magnitude of 12.5 mag. Photometry from the All-Sky Automated Survey for SNe (ASAS-SN; Shappee et al. 2014, ApJ, 788, 48S and Kochanek et al. 2017PASP, 129, 4502) shows that the eruption started around 2022-04-30.7 and has reached a peak g magnitude = 10.05 mag on 2022-05-05.9 (see light curve below).
On 2022-05-22.9 we obtained a low-resolution spectrum using the Goodman spectrograph (Clemens et al. 2004, SPIE, 5492, 331) on the 4.1 m SOAR telescope, covering a wavelength range of 4000-7800 A. The spectrum shows strong emission lines of H I, Fe II, and O I. The spectrum is that of a classical nova after optical peak. The radial velocity of the line centers are consistent with that of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The ASAS-SN sky patrol (Kochanek et al. 2017, PASP, 129, 4502) light curve can be found here: https://asas-sn.osu.edu/sky-patrol/coordinate/c95e0edd-7413-424e-89e4-8d4296fd8928
This ATel is based on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia, Inovacoes e Comunicacoes do Brasil (MCTIC/LNA), the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU).
