Independent Discovery of a Probable Nova in M31
ATel #16860; K. Hornoch (Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, Czech Republic), A. W. Shafter (SDSU), H. Kucakova (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
on 10 Oct 2024; 20:27 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 990-s R-band CCD frame taken on 2024 Oct. 9.905 UT with the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov.
The object was independently discovered on Oct. 10.473 UT by K. Itagaki and designated as PNV J00423476+4115351, and on Oct. 10.689 UT by J. Xu et al. and designated as AT 2024xtk.
The object was designated by us as M31N 2024-10a and is located at R.A. = 0h42m34s.78, Decl. = +41o15'34".9 (equinox 2000.0), which is 107.6" west and 33.6" south of the center of M31 (see link to discovery image below).
The following R-band magnitudes were obtained using the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov (D65) and the 40-in reflector at SDSU's Mount Laguna Observatory (MLO):
Date [UT] | Mag | Err | Filter | Telescope
2024-10-09.205 | >20.3 | | R | MLO
2024-10-09.905 | 17.5 | 0.15 | R | D65
2024-10-10.210 | 16.70 | 0.04 | 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
