Spectroscopic Classification of M81N 2016-04a (PNV J09560598+6900401) as a Classical Nova
ATel #8951; M. J. Darnley (LJMU), S. C. Williams (Lancaster)
on 15 Apr 2016; 11:05 UT
Credential Certification: Matt Darnley (M.J.Darnley@ljmu.ac.uk)
Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient
We obtained a spectrum of nova candidate M81N 2016-04a (PNV J09560598+6900401; ATel #8904) with the SPRAT spectrograph (Piascik et al. 2014) on the 2m Liverpool Telescope (Steele et al. 2004) on 2016 April 13.94 UT. This spectrum was taken 11 days post-discovery.
The spectrum is of low signal-to-noise but it does show strong Hα emission, with the FWHM of that line measured to be 2,900±100 km/s. There are low S/N detections of Hβ, Fe II multiplets 42 and 49, and O I in emission. This spectrum confirms that M81N 2016-04a is a classical nova eruption in M81 and that it may be member of the Fe II taxonomic class.
