Independent Discovery of a Probable Nova in M31
ATel #16319; K. Hornoch (Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, Czech Republic), A. W. Shafter (SDSU), H. Kucakova (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic), I. Yosuf, A. Luo (Westview HS)
on 4 Nov 2023; 16:54 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Novae
Credential Certification: Allen W. Shafter (ashafter@sdsu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
We report the independent discovery of a probable nova found during our survey of the central region of M31. The object was discovered on a co-added 1800-s R-band CCD frame taken on 2023 Nov. 4.114 UT with the 40-in reflector at SDSU's Mount Laguna Observatory. We found the object barely visible also on a few prediscovery images taken at Ondrejov and Mount Laguna Observatory.
The object was independently discovered by J. Zhao and W. Wang and designated as PNV J00421620+4116251 = AT 2023wot.
The object was designated by us as M31N 2023-11a and is located at R.A. = 0h42m16s.16, Decl. = +41o16'25".4 (equinox 2000.0), which is 317.5" west and 16.9" north of the center of M31 (see link to discovery image below).
The following R-band magnitudes were obtained using the 40-in reflector at SDSU's Mount Laguna Observatory (MLO) and the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov (D65):
Date [UT] | Mag | Err | Filter | Telescope
2023-10-13.904 | <21.1 | | R | D65
2023-11-01.107 | 19.9 | 0.2 | R | MLO
2023-11-01.732 | 19.7 | 0.2 | R | D65
2023-11-02.114 | 19.6 | 0.25 | R | MLO
2023-11-04.114 | 18.9 | 0.1 | R | MLO
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 image
