OGLE-IV Pre-discovery Observations of MASTER OT J010603.18-744715.8
ATel #9622; P. Mroz, A. Udalski (Warsaw University Observatory), on behalf of the OGLE team
on 14 Oct 2016; 12:53 UT
Credential Certification: Przemek Mroz (pmroz@astrouw.edu.pl)
Subjects: Optical, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Transient
Shumkov et al. (ATel #9621) reported the discovery of a bright optical transient MASTER OT J010603.18-744715.8 toward the Small Magellanic Cloud. The object is located in the fields SMC727 and SMC734 that are regularly monitored by the OGLE-IV Survey.
The star was saturated in the image acquired on 2016 October 14.11706 UT, meaning it was brighter than I=11 mag. The last pre-eruption image was taken on October 6.15547 UT.
The progenitor was clearly visible in the OGLE images at equatorial coordinates of R.A. = 01:06:03.27, Decl. = -74:47:15.8 (J2000.0). It had the mean magnitude of I = 20.84 mag and color (V-I) = 0.16 mag. The progenitor showed semi-regular variability on a timescale of 20-30 days.
The transient's brightness and its progenitor's properties suggest it is a classical nova.
Precise I-band photometry of the star will be available via the
OGLE CVOM system once the star fades below the saturation limit.
Finding charts can be found here.