SALT spectroscopic classification of TCP J16272388-4601564 as a Galactic classical nova
ATel #16111; E. Aydi (MSU), D. A. H. Buckley (SAAO/UCT), M. Orio (UoW/INAF), J. Mikolajewska (NCAC), L. Chomiuk, J. Strader (MSU), and K. V. Sokolovksy (U. illinois)
on 2 Jul 2023; 18:31 UT
Credential Certification: Elias Aydi (aydielia@msu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Binary, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Transient, Variables
We report on high-resolution optical spectroscopy of the optical transient TCP J16272388-4601564, which was discovered by the Brazilian Transient Search - BraTS - at SONEAR 2 Observatory, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, at an unfiltered magnitude 14.9 mag on 2023-06-27.09 UT. Pre-discovery observations by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SNe (ASAS-SN, Shappee et al. 2014, ApJ, 788, 48) shows that the source has been rising in brightness since 2023-06-25.09. The ASAS-SN light curve could be found here.
On 2023-07-01.96 we obtained a 1200 s spectrum using the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS; Crause et al. 2014, Proc. SPIE, 91476) mounted on the 11m Southern African Large Telescope as part of the SALT Large Science Program on Transients. The observations were taken in the LR mode of HRS which covers the spectral range of 3800-8900 A at a resolution R=14000. The data were reduced with the SALT HRS MIDAS pipeline (Kniazev et al. 2016, MNRAS 459, 3068). The spectrum shows P Cygni lines of Balmer, Fe II, Na I, and O I. The absorption troughs of the P Cygni lines are at blueshifted velocities of around 550 km/s. The overall spectrum is that of a classical nova near optical peak.
Follow up observations in all bands are encouraged.
