Spectroscopic confirmation of AT2024aayx as a nova in M31
ATel #16908; Judhajeet Basu (IIA), Shatakshi Chamoli (IIA), Sudhanshu Barway (IIA), G. C. Anupama (IIA), Srikanth Bandari (IIA), Tanishk Mohan(IITB), Vishwajeet Swain (IITB), Varun Bhalerao (IITB), Kaisang Angail (IIA), Rigzin Norbu (IIA) and GIT Team
on 15 Nov 2024; 20:24 UT
Credential Certification: Judhajeet Basu (judhajeet.basu@iiap.res.in)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
The M31 transient (AT2024aayx) was discovered on 2024-11-12.6 UTC at 17.06 mag in the clear filter by Ou et. al. We obtained two optical spectra of the object on 13th and 14th Nov 2024 with an exposure of 60 mins each, using the low-resolution HFOSC instrument mounted on the 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) of the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), Hanle.
Both spectra show prominent H Balmer lines with clear P Cyg profiles. The width of the H alpha line doubled from ~1500km/s to 3000km/s in one day. The P Cyg features are located at approximately -1200 km/s from the peak of the emission lines. Strong Fe II lines are also visible around 5000A. The spectral features would classify the object as a nova in its Fe II phase.
Imaging by the GROWTH-India Telescope on Nov 13.76, shows clear detection of the nova brightening to 16.77+/-0.16 AB mag in the r' filter.
We will continue monitoring the nova using facilities at IAO.
We thank the HCT observers for sparing time to carry out the ToO observations. IAO is operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, India.
The GROWTH-India Telescope (GIT; Kumar et al. 2022) is a 70-cm telescope with a 0.7-degree field of view, set up by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) with funding from DST-SERB and IUSSTF. It is located at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (Hanle), operated by IIA. We acknowledge funding by the IITB alumni batch of 1994, which partially supports the operations of the telescope. Telescope technical details are available at (GIT website).
