VVV observations of the Nova Sagittarii 2012 Progenitor
ATel #4372; R. K. Saito (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Universidad de Valparaiso, The Milky Way Millennium Nucleus) and D. Minniti (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile)
on 12 Sep 2012; 18:19 UT
Credential Certification: Roberto Saito (rsaito@astro.puc.cl)
Subjects: Infra-Red, Nova, Transient
Nova Sagittarii 2012 (PNV J17452791-2305213) was discovered in eruption by S. Korotkiy and K. Sokolovsky (CBET 3089), with 9.6 mag in unfiltered light on April 21 2012. The nova was reported with coordinates RA 17:45:28.03 DEC -23:05:22.8 (J2000). Follow-up observations taken in different wavelengths registered the evolution of the system during and after outburst (radio, near-IR, optical, ultraviolet and X-ray; ATel 4088, 4093, 4094, 4110, 4142).
VVV survey observations taken during 2010 and 2012 detected the possible progenitor of Nova Sgr 2012. A single stellar source is seen in the VVV images before the eruption at the position reported in CBET 3089, with coordinates RA 17:45:28.02 DEC -23:05:22.72 (J2000). Quasi simultaneous JHKs observations were acquired on March 18 2010, while additional 5 epochs were taken in the Ks-band from March 11 to April 03, 2012. The VVV data are in the natural VISTA Vegamag system (vvvsurvey.org; Minniti et al. 2010, New Astronomy, 15, 433).
Table of observations:
Date (UT) filter mag
2010 03 18.3326 H 15.421+/-0.047
2010 03 18.3349 Ks 15.178+/-0.056
2010 03 18.3382 J 15.813+/-0.035
Date (UT) filter mag
2012 03 11.3691 Ks 15.028+/-0.050
2012 03 18.3269 Ks 15.016+/-0.050
2012 03 22.3023 Ks 15.093+/-0.054
2012 03 29.3373 Ks 15.041+/-0.057
2012 04 03.3046 Ks 14.914+/-0.043
Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge use of data from the ESO Public Survey programme ID 179.B-2002 taken with the VISTA telescope, and data products from the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit.
