Near-Infrared photometric observations of Nova Cephei 2013

ATel #5026; Ashish Raj, D. P.K. Banerjee & N. M. Ashok, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahemdabad , India
on 29 Apr 2013; 14:20 UT
Credential Certification: Dipankar P.K. Banerjee (orion@prl.res.in)

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We report near-infrared J, H, and K band photometry of Nova Cephei 2013 (CBET #3397). Using the Mount Abu 1.2m telescope (+PRL Near-Infrared NICMOS3 Imager/Spectrograph), we obtain on 2013 April 26.95 UT near-IR magnitudes of J = 13.2 +/- 0.1 , H = 10.6 +/- 0.1, K = 8.2 +/- 0.1. The large infrared excess seen in the JHK bands clearly confirms that dust formation has taken place in the nova. This supports the suggestion of Munari et. al. ( ATel #4893) that the onset of dust formation may have begun around 13 to 15 March 2013 when a large and sudden drop of 2.2 magnitudes in the V band was seen accompanied by a large increase in the red slope of the energy distribution (from V-Ic = 3.07 to 4.08).