Near infrared photometric monitoring observations of Nova Mon 2012

ATel #4572; W. P. Varricatt, J. Ehle, T. Wold (Joint Astronomy Centre, Hilo, HI, USA), D. P. K. Banerjee, N. M. Ashok (Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India)
on 14 Nov 2012; 20:48 UT
Credential Certification: Watson Varricatt (w.varricatt@jach.hawaii.edu)

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We report on our near-IR monitoring observations of Nova Mon 2012 using the 3.8-m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and the UKIRT Wide Field Camera (WFCAM). The observations were obtained using the MKO filters Z, Y, J, H and K (effective wavelengths: 0.872, 1.031, 1.248, 1.631 and 2.201 microns respectively).

This nova was was discovered in outburst in the optical on 2012 August 9 (CBET #3202). It is associated with a gamma ray transient (ATel #4224), which is rare among Novae, detected on 2012 June 22 prior to its detection in outburst in the optical. Greimel et al. (2012; ATel #4365) identified a possible progenitor of the nova. Near-IR spectroscopic observations (Banerjee et al. 2012; ATel #4542) show that the nova has currently evolved to the coronal phase and is exhibiting broad double-peaked emission lines. More multi-wavelength observations can be seen in ATel #4310, #4320, #4321, #4352, #4376, #4408, #4569.

The location of the nova in our images RA=06:39:38.598, Dec=+05:53:52.93; J2000) agrees with that of a source of J=16.263(0.006), H=15.709(0.007) and K=15.420(0.013) detected in the UKIDSS (Lawrence A. et al. 2007, MNRAS, 379, 1599) GPS DR8+ images observed on 2008 October 19.64 (see also ATel #4365). When compared to the UKIDSS magnitudes, the source is currently brighter by ~7.5 magnitudes. Over a period of a month of our monitoring (2012 September 29 to October 26), the brightness declined slowly, by ~0.5 magnitudes. The table below shows our observations; the magnitudes given are in the UKIRT-WFCAM photometric system.

 
----------------------------------------------------- 
UTDATE   | UT       | Heliocentric|Filt.|mag. | error 
yyyymmdd | hh:mm:ss | Julian Date |     |     | 
         |          | 2456200+    |     |     | 
----------------------------------------------------- 
20120929 | 14:31:29 | 00.104846 | K | 7.350 | 0.005 
20120929 | 14:34:03 | 00.106628 | H | 8.127 | 0.003 
20120929 | 14:36:32 | 00.108353 | J | 8.166 | 0.008 
20120929 | 14:39:02 | 00.110089 | Y | 8.508 | 0.010 
20120929 | 14:41:45 | 00.111976 | Z | 8.904 | 0.014 
 
20120930 | 13:17:45 | 01.053731 | K | 7.384 | 0.012 
20120930 | 13:20:38 | 01.055734 | H | 8.125 | 0.017 
20120930 | 13:23:14 | 01.057540 | J | 8.165 | 0.007 
20120930 | 13:25:51 | 01.059357 | Y | 8.562 | 0.029 
20120930 | 13:28:33 | 01.061232 | Z | 8.948 | 0.013 
 
20121001 | 13:21:48 | 02.056639 | K | 7.404 | 0.019 
20121001 | 13:24:18 | 02.058375 | H | 8.151 | 0.013 
20121001 | 13:26:55 | 02.060192 | J | 8.174 | 0.012 
20121001 | 13:29:25 | 02.061929 | Y | 8.536 | 0.011 
20121001 | 13:32:07 | 02.063804 | Z | 8.942 | 0.011 
 
20121004 | 14:35:28 | 05.108085 | K | 7.427 | 0.029 
20121004 | 14:36:28 | 05.108780 | H | 8.190 | 0.009 
20121004 | 14:37:33 | 05.109532 | J | 8.248 | 0.018 
20121004 | 14:38:33 | 05.110227 | Y | 8.600 | 0.013 
20121004 | 14:39:32 | 05.110920 | Z | 9.035 | 0.015 
 
20121016 | 15:22:04 | 17.141581 | K | 7.658 | 0.022 
20121016 | 15:23:03 | 17.142264 | H | 8.475 | 0.018 
20121016 | 15:24:03 | 17.142958 | J | 8.520 | 0.011 
20121016 | 15:25:03 | 17.143654 | Y | 8.855 | 0.012 
20121016 | 15:26:03 | 17.144347 | Z | 9.336 | 0.006 
 
20121019 | 13:19:43 | 20.056885 | K | 7.758 | 0.018 
20121019 | 13:20:43 | 20.057580 | H | 8.523 | 0.013 
20121019 | 13:21:42 | 20.058263 | J | 8.614 | 0.007 
20121019 | 13:22:42 | 20.058957 | Y | 8.949 | 0.014 
20121019 | 13:23:42 | 20.059652 | Z | 9.462 | 0.013 
 
20121026 | 14:28:34 | 27.105334 | K | 7.823 | 0.013 
20121026 | 14:29:40 | 27.106098 | H | 8.611 | 0.019 
20121026 | 14:30:40 | 27.106793 | J | 8.716 | 0.021 
20121026 | 14:31:53 | 27.107638 | Y | 9.043 | 0.017 
20121026 | 14:32:57 | 27.108378 | Z | 9.575 | 0.013 
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UKIRT is operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre on behalf of the UK-STFC. The data reduction is performed by the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit; we thank Mike Irwin for making the reduced data available.

A plot of the our near-IR magnitudes is available at: http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/UKIRT/publications/SC/NovaMon2012_Atel_20121114.jpg