Discovery of a Probable Nova in M81
ATel #6496; K. Hornoch (Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, Czech Republic), O. Vaduvescu, T. Mocnik (ING, La Palma, Spain)
on 25 Sep 2014; 16:25 UT
Credential Certification: Allen W. Shafter (aws@nova.sdsu.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
Referred to by ATel #: 6678
We report the discovery of a probable nova in M81 on a co-added 1440-s narrow-band H-alpha CCD image taken with the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) + WFC at La Palma under ~2.2" seeing on 2014 Sep. 18.237 UT. The new object is easily visible on the co-added image (see the finding chart linked below), but is not present on numerous narrow-band H-alpha archival images from the INT down to limiting magnitude as faint as H-alpha = 22.3. On Sep. 18.252 UT we also obtained Sloan r'-band images which helped us to classify the object.
The new object designated PNV J09552058+6902587 = M81N 2014-09a? is located at R.A. = 9h55m20s.58, Decl. = +69o02'58".7 (equinox 2000.0), which is 67.5" west and 56.4" south of the center of M81. The photometry obtained with the INT + WFC gave H-alpha = 19.8 ± 0.3 mag. The object is not visible on a co-added 240-s Sloan r'-band image down to 20.5 mag.
This work is based on observations made with the Isaac Newton Telescope operated on the island of La Palma by the ING in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos.
Finding Chart
