Optical spectro-photometric follow up of nova Tauri 2026 (TCP J05210763+2338194)
ATel #17972; Pragati Acharya (TTU), Willem Hoogendam (University of Hawaii), Kirill V. Sokolovsky, Darien Perla, Katie Barnhart, John Worley, Anthony Pearce, Vallia Antoniou, Elias Aydi (TTU)
on 15 Aug 2026; 23:40 UT
Credential Certification: Elias Aydi (eaydi@ttu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Star, Transient, Variables
We report optical spectroscopy and photometry of Nova Tauri 2026 (TCP J05210763+2338194), which was discovered on 2026 Aug 06.41 UTC at unfiltered magnitude of 11.2 by the NMW-TexasTech survey (ATel #17947) and spectroscopically confirmed as a classical nova on 2026 Aug 8.125 (ATel #17950).
On 2026 Aug 11.635 we obtained a low-resolution spectrum using the SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph (SNIFS) mounted on the University of Hawaii 88-inch telescope (UH88). The spectrum is dominated by P Cygni emission lines of Balmer, Fe II, O I, Na I, along with relatively weaker He I lines. The radial velocities measured from the absorption troughs of the P Cygni profiles in Halpha and Hbeta are -600 km/s and -350 km/s, respectively. The spectrum indicates that the nova is in the Fe II phase during the rise to peak or nearing peak brightness.
On August 12.44 and 13.38 we obtained BVRI photometry with a 0.3-m telescope equipped with a QHY268M CMOS camera at the Preston Gott Skyview Observatory of Texas Tech University. The measurements are as follows:
August 12.44: B = 10.04 +\- 0.04; V = 9.08 +\- 0.03; R = 8.43 +\- 0.04; I = 8.29 +\- 0.03.
August 13.38: B = 9.95 +\- 0.04; V = 8.96 +\- 0.03; R = 8.23 +\- 0.04; I = 8.00 +\- 0.03.
Comparison to the V-band magnitude of 9.92 +/-0.03 on 2026 Aug 09.16146 reported by ATel #17960 indicates that the nova was still rising in brightness on August 13th, consistent with the spectral observations.
