Discovery of Optical Transient in M82 : P60-M82-081119
ATel #1854; M. M. Kasliwal, S. B. Cenko, A. Rau, E. O. Ofek, R. Quimby, S. R. Kulkarni (Caltech)
on 25 Nov 2008; 00:11 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Transients
Credential Certification: Mansi Manoj Kasliwal (mansi@astro.caltech.edu)
Subjects: Infra-Red, Optical, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Transient
On UT 2008 Nov 19.536, P60-FasTING (Palomar 60-inch Fast Transients In Nearby Galaxies) discovered a possible nova in M82 at RA(J2000) = 09:55:58.390 DEC(J2000) = +69:40:56.17, offset from the nucleus
by 29.5"E, 10.4"N. P60-M82-081119 had a brightness of g = 20.0 +/- 0.1 at peak corresponding to Mg = -7.8 at the distance of M82 (uncorrected for extinction). There is no counterpart in SDSS or SIMBAD. It is not detected to g > 21.4 (3-sigma upper limit) on Nov 13.482. It has a color of g-i = 1.0. Follow-up spectroscopy is encouraged and finder chart is available at: http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~mansi/P60FasTING/Atel/
Light curve summary:
Date (UT 2008)| Mag (g-band) |
Nov 13.482 | > 21.4 |
Nov 18.445 | 20.7 |
Nov 19.536 | 20.0 |
Nov 20.427 | 20.0 |
Nov 21.379 | 20.2 |
Nov 23.308 | 20.6 |