Possible nova in Oph PNV J17144255-2943481

[Jon]

Here's the CBAT page (http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/unconf/followups/J17144255-2943481.html) - discovered a couple of days ago.

I got a low-res SA100 spectrum last night. Strong blue continuum. Odd sort of line profile - weak Ha emission line, no sign of Hb, but a stronger He/N(?) emission line around 4680. Possibly a He/N type nova close to maximum?

[Rob_K]

Nice work Jon! My guess is that it's a dwarf nova of some sort, very blue. Check these out:
http://www.galaxyzooforum.org/index.php?topic=276258.15

My shot last night showed no sign of reddening at all - a classical nova of this magnitude and in that position should appear reddish in my shots. That is, at mag 10.3-odd, it has to be either a long way away and/or subject to extinction due to dust. Either (both!) would produce a reddish object in that position. Therefore it must be this side of the dust and not as intrinsically bright as a classical nova - ie a dwarf nova or some other cv. Or not LOL!

Edit - very similar to the recent PNV in Hercules, now confirmed as a dwarf nova, with superhumps. Spectrum here:
http://quasar.teoth.it/html/spectra/PNVJ17592412+2520317.jpg

Cheers -

[Jon]

Agreed, Rob. It doesn't feel quite right. I'm not 100% convinced that the "line" at 4680 isn't a field star. Trying again as I write.

The Ha is real. But that could be a lot of things.

[Rob_K]

Yep, that's H-alpha but any redness is swamped by the strong blue continuum. Gotta be a dwarf nova!

Cheers -

[Rob_K]

Another spectrum has been posted and the object identified as a dwarf nova:
http://ooruri.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/mailarchive/vsnet-alert/17217
http://otobs.org/FBO/etc/pnv_j17144255-2943481_20140413.png

Cheers -

[Jon]

Good to see Fujii-san's spectrum also catches the emission band at 4680. Wasn't my imagination.