Independent Discovery of a Probable Nova in M31, AT 2026fkb
ATel #17721; K. Hornoch, H. Kucakova (Ondrejov), A. W. Shafter (SDSU)
on 12 Mar 2026; 22:03 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 840-s R-band CCD frame taken on 2026 Mar. 12.756 UT with the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov.
The object was independently discovered on Mar. 12.574 UT by
J. Xu et al.
The object has been designated by us as M31N 2026-03a and is located at R.A. = 0h42m36s.81, Decl. = +41o16'05".5 (equinox 2000.0), which is 84.7" west and 3.0" 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):
Date [UT] | Mag | Err | Filter | Telescope
2026-03-07.754 | >19.3 | | R | D65
2026-03-12.756 | 16.9 | 0.1 | R | D65
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
