ASASSN-24ca is a new classical nova in Scorpius
ATel #16550; J. Strader, R. Urquhart, P. Craig, E. Aydi, L. Chomiuk (Michigan St), K. Sokolovsky (Illinois), K. Z. Stanek, C. S. Kochanek (OSU), B. J. Shappee (U. Hawaii)
on 21 Mar 2024; 22:26 UT
Credential Certification: Jay Strader (strader@pa.msu.edu)
ASASSN-24ca was discovered by the ASAS-SN survey on 2024 March 19 (UT 07:40), with g=14.1; it was
not present (g > 18.4) in data taken two days earlier. We obtained spectroscopy of the source
with the Goodman Spectrograph on the SOAR 4.1-m telescope on 2024 March 21 (UT 07:41). The spectrum has a moderately red continuum with emission lines of H (H-alpha FWHM about 600 km/s), He I, O I, and Fe II. O I and the higher order Balmer lines show clear P Cygni profiles extending to -850 km/s from rest.This spectrum is consistent with that of a relatively slow classical nova.
Astrometry performed on the acquisition image gives a best-fit position of (R.A., Dec.) = (17:01:24.74 -36:33:02.8). This is about 0.7" from the nearest star in Gaia DR3, and pending additional data we do not see evidence that this nova is associated with a currently cataloged star.
Based on observations obtained at the SOAR telescope, which is a joint project of the Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovacoes do Brasil, the US National Science Foundationâs NOIRLab, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Michigan State University.
