Discovery of a Probable Nova in M81

ATel #8632; K. Hornoch (Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, Czech Republic), H. Kucakova (Astronomical Institute, Charles U., Prague, Czech Republic)
on 4 Feb 2016; 03:20 UT
Credential Certification: Allen W. Shafter (ashafter@mail.sdsu.edu)

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We report the discovery of a probable nova in M81 on a co-added 2970-s unfiltered CCD frame taken on 2016 Jan. 30.200 UT with the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov.

The new object designated PNV J09553757+6900146 is located at R.A. = 9h55m37s.57, Decl. = +69o00'14".6 (equinox 2000.0), which is 23.6" east and 220.5" south of the center of M81 (see link to discovery image below). The object was confirmed on a co-added 1980-s unfiltered CCD frame taken on Feb. 3.194 UT with the same instrumentation.

The following unfiltered magnitudes were obtained using the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov (R-band magnitudes used from comparison stars):

2015 Dec. 30.889 UT, [21.6; 2016 Jan. 30.200, 20.6 ± 0.2; Feb. 3.194, 20.3 ± 0.25.

We thank J. Vrastil for getting M81 images on Dec. 30.889 UT.

Discovery image