I made it mag. 4.3 last night (Dec. 6.50) while still at very low altitude. Quite easy with the naked-eye even then, though a little fainter than a nearby star at very slightly higher elevation and marked as 4.1 in the AAVSO Atlas.
My effort from last night. I think I was dew affected by the time I got to it. It cleared my house around 3 am I think. Assuming I haven't messed things up, it seems to have a red/pinkish colour to it? Is this right?
The pinkish colour is due to the main components of the visible light being from the hydrogen alpha and beta lines, which are red and light blue respectively. The mixture of these two gives the pink colour. I believe it should become stronger over the coming days.
The pinkish colour is due to the main components of the visible light being from the hydrogen alpha and beta lines, which are red and light blue respectively. The mixture of these two gives the pink colour. I believe it should become stronger over the coming days.
I am imaging the nova again this morning. using the same settings as Saturday morning the images seem to be slightly brighter. will process and put up after I get some sleep. I have exactly the same field of view so I should be able to flick compare the images
Another clear horizon from my suburban Brisbane home and another chance to view this Nova, this time through 7x50 bino's.
To the naked eye, I thought it was a little harder to pick up than yesterday morning. When looking through bino's it becomes a very easy target. It seemed to have a slightly pink hue until morning twilight kicked in and washed out the colour. A very faint Genesis 1 satellite passed between Alpha and Beta Centauri heading East at 3:11 EST and was only visible through the 7x50's.
For me it looked to be at Mag 4.5 and it will be interesting to compare this figure with those who have more experience at comparing star magnitudes.
Last edited by Shark Bait; 09-12-2013 at 08:17 AM.
Reason: spelling
I am imaging the nova again this morning. using the same settings as Saturday morning the images seem to be slightly brighter. will process and put up after I get some sleep. I have exactly the same field of view so I should be able to flick compare the images
EDIT HERE IS AN UNPROCESSED IMAGE
well this is another lesson - always do another set of darks and bias's because of the unpredictability of the nightscapes sensor? though i did set the sensor to be at -1 and it was at the same temperature it obviously didn't have the same hot pixels. it is a stack of 40 x 2min shots, stacked in afx software for the camera and processed in PI. Imaged from the Doghouse Observatory using a 127ED and Celestron Nightscape OSC from 2:30am through to 4am AEDST
Photometry yesterday morning Dec 7 17:40 UT: V = 4.276, B = 4.85. B-V increasing; the nova's getting pinker as the hydrogen emissions make more of a contribution to its total flux.
Think I got it last night through Binos and the 80mm from the back steps. Very low on the horizon so somewhat unstable and some pinkish colour. Clouds dipped for me for a short period then about 20 mins later, solid cloud and rain !
Forecast is not good for the rest of the week but I'll keep checking.
its an amazing site
