Optical follow-up observations of GOTO065054.49+593624.51
ATel #16847; Amar Deo Chandra (ARIES), Brijesh Kumar (ARIES), T. S. Kumar (ARIES), Kumar Pranshu (ARIES), B. Krishna Reddy (ARIES), Mukesh Kumar (ARIES), Prakash Dhami (ARIES)
on 5 Oct 2024; 11:28 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Transients
Credential Certification: Amar Deo Chandra (amar.deo.chandra@gmail.com)
Subjects: Optical, Request for Observations, Transient
A bright optical transient GOTO065054.49+593624.51 was detected by the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) on 4 October 2024 at 03:36:36 UT with an estimated magnitude in the GOTO L-band (400-700 nm) of 13.37 +/- 0.01 (ATel#16842). The inferred location of the source was: RA(J2000) = 06h 50m 54.49 s, Dec(J2000) = +59:36:24.51.
We performed optical follow-up observations of the transient beginning at 2024-10-04T21:51:34 UT during guiding test runs of the Andor MARANA-4BV6U-99CT camera mounted on the 3.6 m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT). We took two frames with 60-second exposure each in the Baader G-band (500-600 nm). The transient was detected at the position consistent with that reported by the GOTO observations.
The nearby source TYC 3778-879-1 (RA, Dec(J2000)=06 50 29.72, +59 30 49.18) was used for photometric calibration and we could estimate the G-band magnitude of 13.63 +/-0.01 for this transient. The reported magnitude is not corrected for the Galactic extinction in the direction of the source.
The transient has faded by about 0.26 mag since its discovery by GOTO about 18.5 hours ago. This could possibly be a slow decaying optical transient like novae and further follow-up multiwavelength observations may help to decipher the true nature of this new transient.
The 3.6 m DOT facility in the Himalayan region of India (long:79 41 04E, lat:29 21 40N, alt:2540m) is owned and operated by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous Institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
