Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave
So is that of any help and do I get a knighthood or at least a free beer at the Astronomers Club?
alex
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If it was up to me you'd get a whole slab Alex!
Thanks Alex, Richard, Andy, Andrew & Cam and Joe for putting up your images - sorry about the late reply but I haven't been online much today. Andy, I think yours misses it, thanks anyway! But the rest are good. Richard, yours from the 17th is excellent. Alex, your series is terrific as they cover a period of time before ASAS-SN recognised & announced the object. They are within the timeframe of that survey's observations though.
Just think, you imaged a new galactic nova (if it eventually proves to be that, see below!) before it was actually discovered, showing the potential of amateurs to discover these scientifically-interesting stars. And most are discovered by amateurs. Even if you didn't realise it at the time, it's gotta be worth beers and knighthoods all round doesn't it?
This 'nova' is an interesting one. The first spectroscopy was done by a professional observatory and indicated it was something strange, probably not a nova. The second lot was done by a professional astronomer but in an amateur capacity and he said it was definitely a nova. The Central Bureau of Astronomical Telegrams then issued a CBET announcing that this object was now Nova Carinae 2018.
But another professional observatory did very high-resolution spectroscopy on it and announced a few hours ago that they think it may not be a nova after all! They say there are a number of things it could be, all strange & exotic beasts!
Hmmm, wonder if it's like footy, where if an umpy says it's a goal it stays a goal, even if later on it's proved it wasn't.
Cheers -