Discovery of a Probable Nova in M31

ATel #9974; K. Hornoch (Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, Czech Republic), H. Kucakova, J. Vrastil (Astronomical Institute, Charles U., Prague, Czech Republic)
on 18 Jan 2017; 19:13 UT
Credential Certification: Steven Williams (scw@astro.ljmu.ac.uk)

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We report the discovery of a probable nova in M31 on a co-added 1530-s R-band CCD frame taken on 2017 Jan. 18.701 UT with the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov. The new object is barely visible also on a prediscovery frame taken on Jan. 15.751 UT with the same instrumentation.

The object designated PNV J00422133+4112018 is located at R.A. = 0h42m21s.33, Decl. = +41o12'01".8 (equinox 2000.0), which is 259.4" west and 246.7" south of the center of M31 (see link to discovery image below).

The following R-band magnitudes were obtained using the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov:

2017 Jan. 10.762 UT, [20.3; 15.751, 19.6 ± 0.3; 18.701, 18.1 ± 0.15.

Discovery image