Possible bright nova in Centaurus - PNV J13544700-5909080

[Jon (Jonathan)]

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

Any indications of peak brightness and when?

Hard to be exact on this one! From the obs we have so far its rise could already be slowing. But a lot of novae "pause" in the brightening phase before pushing on for another rise of c. 2 mags.

The average total rise of a fast nova is about 10-12 mags. This one started at 15.5. If it follows this pattern, and if it follows in the footsteps of Nova Del 2013 in terms of what we are seeing in the low-res spectra, I'm betting that it will peak in the next day or so at around 3.8. But that's entirely a guess based on the limited reading I have have done over the past few months.

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

New reports out this morning have it at mag. 4.1 and spotted naked eye.

Confirmed naked eye object.
Was easy to spot from suburban Perth.

Edit:
Have attached an image I took last night. Saved from facebook as I'm at work and don't have access to the original.
60Da, 90sec @ ISO800, 105mm prime @ f4, Astrotrac (roughly aligned)

[malclocke (Malc)]

Now has an official designation from the IAU - V1369 Cen.

Thick cloud here this evening, I will set an early alarm and keep fingers crossed. I'm away for the next two nights after tonight so hopefully Rob et al can keep the spectra coming in.

The experience of V339 Del earlier in the year has shown how rapid the spectral development is in this early phase. If you have any capability and opportunity to take spectra please try to do so in the coming days.

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Originally Posted by Jon

I've written a blog post aimed at the general public who might want to see this "third pointer to the Southern Cross" - http://jonathanpowles.blogspot.com.a...ern-cross.html

Nice write up Jon. Thanks for the info - time to seach the web for some more technical data on this one.

If the sky is clear tomorrow morning I will set up the scope and have a look.

[CometGuy]

Now around 3.6-3.7! Can't wait to see this tomorrow morning.

[Mick (Michael)]

Had a look this morning, just visible to the unaided eye but an easy target with small binoculars. It is Around the reported +4 to +5 magnitude, will be interested to see what happens with it over the coming weeks. Nice images everyone.

[RichardJ (Richard)]

Observed the Nova this morning. Easy naked eye object. I estimate it to be about mag 3.5. Here is one of my images.

RichardJ

[von Tom (Tom)]

Very nice Richard.

Cloudy here in Brisbane but managed to photograph it even though the Pointers and Crux were hardly visible to the eye. Hard to tell the brightness as the cloud never cleared totally.

Cheer, Tom

[Lee]

I spotted her from Newcastle this am (can't recall the sky being so nice for ages either)- very easy naked eye object, actually stands out as being out of place in such a familiar area.... I'll have to image this on the weekend....

[kinetic (Steve)]

Sure does look odd, we're currently driving towards Sydney and just now, outside Wagga Wagga, sky is awesome and the interloper near A and B Cent only a few degrees above a crisp, clear horizon.
Steve

[von Tom (Tom)]

Low in the SE Brisbane sky now, naked eye visibility, pribably 4th magnitude, not quite as bright as Epsilon Crucis (mag 3.6). Cameras are running

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Clear horizon in Brisbane this morning and it is visible to the naked eye from my suburban location. I agree with Tom, it looks to be somewhere between Mag 4 to 4.5 when compared with Epsilon Crucis and Alpha Circini.

[h0ughy (David)]

i am imaging this area now with the 127Ed and the celestron nightscape (yeah i know where is the moravian) will upload the image later today but screen capture of area shows the closeup the camera will give

[RichardJ (Richard)]

Hi,

Here is my image from this morning. To me it appears significantly fainter than yesterday.

RichardJ

[von Tom (Tom)]

Canon EOS 600D 200mm 100% crop from Brisbane on 7th December 2013

[h0ughy (David)]

here is my shot of the nova from 2am ish this morning.

127ed and a nightscape OSC CCD 10 x 2 min exposures - a bit ordinary but hey i was imaging

have to do one of those mapping thingys to see where it is in relation to other stars - i don't have that?

EDIT

PNV J13544700-5909080

PNV J13544700-5909080 2013 12 02.692 * 13 54 47.00 -59 09 08.0 05.5 U Cen 8 9

ok tried something:

Calibration
Center (RA, Dec): (208.405, -59.081)
Center (RA, hms): 13h 53m 37.254s
Center (Dec, dms): -59° 04' 49.852"
Size: 66.2 x 50 arcmin
Radius: 0.692 deg
Pixel scale: 1.06 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: Up is 83.6 degrees E of N
WCS file: wcs.fits
New FITS image: new-image.fits
Reference stars nearby (RA,Dec table): rdls.fits
Stars detected in your images (x,y table): axy.fits
KMZ (Google Sky): image.kmz

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

have to do one of those mapping thingys to see where it is in relation to other stars - i don't have that?

You mean something like this? astrometry.net roolz.

[lazjen (Chris)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

have to do one of those mapping thingys to see where it is in relation to other stars - i don't have that?

Here you go: http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/156238#annotated

Enjoy!

[lazjen (Chris)]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

You mean something like this? astrometry.net roolz.

*snap*

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

You mean something like this? astrometry.net roolz.

ah i found it through a search on a thread Lee did and was off with the fairies - thanks so much for the confirmation guys its an amazing site