Discovery and Classification of Nova in M81 : P60-M81-090213
ATel #1934; M. M. Kasliwal(1), S. B. Cenko(2), E. O. Ofek(1), R. Quimby(1), A. Rau(1), S. R. Kulkarni(1) [1 : Caltech, 2 : UC Berkeley]
on 21 Feb 2009; 04:26 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Novae
Credential Certification: Mansi Manoj Kasliwal (mansi@astro.caltech.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
On UT 2009 Feb 13.404, P60-FasTING (Palomar 60-inch Fast Transients In Nearby Galaxies) discovered a nova in M81 at RA(J2000) = 09:55:35.96 and DEC(J2000) = +69:01:51.0, offset from the nucleus by 15"E, 124"S. P60-M81-090213 had a brightness of g=20.1 +/- 0.1 at discovery (photometric calibration wrt SDSS catalog) and faded to g=21.5 on Feb 20.237. It is not detected, with 3-sigma upper limits
of g > 21.9 on Feb 3.262.
Spectroscopic confirmation was obtained on Feb 18.510 using Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer on the Keck I telescope. Prominent Balmer lines (H-alpha, H-beta, H-gamma) are detected. Presence of Fe II lines suggest that this is an Fe II class nova (following Williams et al 94).
