Photometric follow up observations of the possible Galactic Nova in Taurus TCP J05210763+2338194
ATel #17947; Elias Aydi, Kirill Sokolovsky, Katie Barnhart, Darien Perla, Pragati Acharya, John Worley, Anthony Pearce, Vallia Antoniou (TTU), Bassam Debs, Omar Kilo (CNO)
on 7 Aug 2026; 16:55 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Novae
Credential Certification: Elias Aydi (eaydi@ttu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Binary, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Star, Transient, Variables
We report photometric follow-up of the possible Galactic nova TCP J05210763+2338194, which was discovered by the NMW-TexasTech survey on 2026-08-06.4109 UT at an unfiltered magnitude of 11.2. On 2026-08-07.0451 UT, we obtained optical photometry using a ZWO Seestar S50 smart telescope located at the College National Orthodox (CNO) Observatory in El-Mina, Lebanon. The unfiltered magnitude of the transient, measured without de-mosaicking of the color image, was 10.5 mag. The magnitude scale was calibrated relative to Gaia G-magnitudes.
At the location of the transient, there is a possible counterpart visible in PanSTARRS images, but it is too faint to be included in the PanSTARRS catalogue, implying a magnitude of about 22. This indicates that the amplitude of the outburst is over 11 mag, which, together with the reddish color of the transient, suggests that it is likely a Galactic nova.
Follow-up observations are highly encouraged, particularly spectroscopy.
CBAT TCOP Discovery Report
