Spectroscopic Classification of Nova Candidate in M81
ATel #7118; H. Bond (Penn State U), P. Vreeswijk (Weizmann), M. Kasliwal (Carnegie/Princeton), Y. Cao (Caltech)
on 21 Feb 2015; 00:38 UT
Credential Certification: Mansi Manoj Kasliwal (mansi@astro.caltech.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Transient
We report spectroscopic observations of the candidate nova in M81 (PNV J09561879+6906481) discovered by Hornoch & Vrastil (ATEL#7092), and independently by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (designated iPTF 15lo). We used the double-beam spectrograph on the Palomar 5-m telescope on 2015 Feb 18.51 UT to obtain a low-resolution spectrum covering 3500-9100 A. The object's spectrum is that of a classical nova of the He/N class (Williams et al. 1992), dominated by strong, broad Balmer emission lines (H-alpha through H-epsilon) and the N III/He II blend at 4640-4686 A. The FWZI of H-alpha is 7400 km/s.
