Call for Eta Carinae Nebula images

[Rob_K]

Hi all - there has been a new galactic classical nova discovered on the 'outskirts' of the Eta Carinae Nebula, currently designated ASASSN-18fv. It's now in the mag 6s or brighter.
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=11454

Just interested in any shots of EC taken in the last few nights that might show the nova brightening. Images back to 14-15 Mar would be helpful. A guide shot of mine is attached, for the location - forgive the roughie!! :lol:

Pm or post here if you can help - thanks!

Cheers -

[cometcatcher]

Cool. I'll have to try for it. Thanks.

[Imme]

I took some shots on the night of the 18th if they're of interest.......image posted on here

I also took 3 minute subs from 11pm-5:30am last night so will have a look through them when I get home tonite.

Let me know if they're of interest

[Rob_K]

I think Alex may have captured it in his post on 18 Mar, starting to rise, but I'll have to double-check it. If it is, it would be the earliest image of it I think. Do you have a date and time for that shot Alex? Thanks. :thumbsup:

Edit: Yes, that is definitely the new nova Alex, congratulations! THe ASAS-SN survey first picked it up at about 6:47pm our time (AEDST) on 16 March, even though it wasn't announced until yesterday. Yours will at least be the first known image outside the discovery survey (so far) but IISers may be able to go back further again!

Cheers -

[Icearcher]

I have wide field shots from the weekend of that area, Ill crop and process tonight and upload tonight.

I should also, maybe, have some exact timings for the shots as well.

[PKay]

For what it's worth, this image was taken 15-10-2017.

The area of interest is right on the bottom frame (maybe).

I added the yellow line.

Can see something, but don't know.

[xelasnave]

This is the area from my one of my images I have not had a chance to look at much I am a little busy.
alex

[chromus]

I got a little heavy handed with the saturation slider but was playing around with the limited data from my 8"SCT in DSS, not other processing

[Rob_K]

Thanks Peter! Just the barest miss on this one, see attached. :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[Rob_K]

Thanks Alex, understood. :thumbsup: I've marked the nova in your image - it is MUCH brighter than that now. I make your shot out at around mag 9.6, give or take. If you find time to get the exact time off your subs, or even a guess at date/time, that would be great. Thanks again! :)

Cheers -

[Rob_K]

Thanks very much for that Phil! The nova is outside the field unfortunately, nice work anyway! :)

Cheers -

[RichardJ]

My images from last Saturday night (17/3/18). Taken at 21.00.
Can provide full resolution images or subs if needed.

RichardJ :)

[AndyG]

Hi Rob,

Sorry if this is poor quality. It's literally my 10th AP shot in my life.

15th March 10pm.
Canon 300D, 1min exposure, ISO "H" (The max setting after 1600).
It's just a Nexstar 6, driven by an idiot :P Hope it helps somehow :)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5x822ektox2vwru/IMG_2393.JPG?dl=0

[VPAstro]

Hi Guys,
Here is a quick LRGB image of ASASSN-18fv taken between 9.00pm and 10.00pm tonight (22-03-2018).
This is 10min of exposure for each of LRGB through an SBIG ST2000xm on a skywatcher ED80 refractor.
Hope it is useful in some way :)

[xelasnave]

12.18 am 18-3-2018
First capture cropped but unprocessed.
alex

[xelasnave]

11-34 pm 19-3-2018

[PKay]

Here's hoping Alex!

Time to buy a lottery ticket ??

[OzEclipse]

Rob,

I have images taken on 23rd December 00:00-00:30hrs EDST.
Doesn't show anything at the location. The attached image is cropped and with high compression to fit file size restrictions.

Joe

[xelasnave]

This is from 19th a small stack at 400 iso
second one is a little later

[PKay]

Amazing Alex!

I noticed the title of the last image.

How about 'xelasnova.jpg for the next one :)

[xelasnave]

So is that of any help and do I get a knighthood or at least a free beer at the Astronomers Club?
alex

[PKay]

...he died alone and destitute...
and a thousand years later a new resort was built on the third planet orbiting Upsilon Carinae. It was called Xelansnave after that famous astronomer who was able to warn a doomed star of the impending Supa Nova nearby...
All the dolphins were able to escape to a nearby ocean...

[xelasnave]

:lol::lol::lol:

I recall in my eta post saying I just wanted to be capturing eta when it blew and just like many of my wishes it sortta came true but not exactly as I expected:eyepop:..

alex

[geolindon]

Oh WOW!!! Alex, very nice reward/motivation after your recent trials n tribulations :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Anth10]

He shall thy be pronounced Sir Alex from this day forth for this remarkable and rare capture.
Congrats Alex,I agree your hard work and dedication has rewarded you amongst the coterie of novice astronomers. Hats off to you.

:camera:



Anth

[xelasnave]

Thanks guys but it was afterall just a bit of luck ...its not as though I planned it ... and I would never have noticed it...and I am still colour blind ...
Alex

[Anth10]

It can be said of that of the Arthurian legend Excalibur too in some way Alex.
What's meant to be is meant to be.:astron:

[Rob_K]

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? :P

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!

:question: 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. :confused2:

Cheers -

[RichardJ]

Hi Rob,

If it is not a nova what are the possibilities?

RichardJ :)

[Merlin66]

From ATel #11468

""
The lack of a strong blue continuum, that is however typical of classical nova outburst, and the low expansion velocities suggest a possible different nature for this object. The presence of many narrow absorptions also suggests a similarity with other peculiar explosions, like the luminous red variable V4332 Sgr (Martini et al. 1999), the possible luminous red novae V838 Mon and V1309 Sco (Tylenda et al. 2011, Mason et al. 2010) or the 'helium-flash' explosion observed in the Sakurai object (Duerbeck and Benetti 1996). Further spectroscopic observations are important to clarify the nature of this very interesting target.
""

[xelasnave]

Hi Rob
I was sceptical as I thought it may be some sort of joke to be honest so I never really got excited.

Its a nice thing to tell uninterested folk to see their eyes glaze over.

What are the other things it may be ... and do you know how long it will be there if its this or that.

Anyways I may embellish the story for my Dad and tell him I was the only one to discover it and that it is a previously unknown dark matter star that came from another dimention...so he will see my spending on astronomy gear as less wasteful and to make him happy his bearded Son is doing something useful:rolleyes:.

I have many captures of stars that I took simply because they were in a convenient location suiting my sitting position for gear testing and I could not even tell you what or where but maybe I should look thru them as they are regions no one would be photographing.

So a convenient excuse ....Mmmmm sorry I cant deal with that at the moment as I am conducting a sky survey looking for dark matter stars.:D
Alex:):):)

[traveller]

Hi Rob,
Not sure if you need more baseline data, this is a shot of region 2 years ago from my archives.
Cheers
Bo

[Rob_K]

Hey, never let the truth get in the way of a good story - it'll always be Alex's Nova ( = unknown dark matter star that came from another dimension) to me! ;) :lol:

And thanks Bo for the reference image!

[Rob_K]

Yep, there's lots to be found, even for amateurs. I'm a very simple guy (ask Ken - Merlin66 :lol: ) with simple gear and not a lot of time but I regularly image Milky Way fields with a wonky second-hand 55mm lens on an entry-level DSLR using a star tracker. In an old version of Photoshop I overlay & align my shots over previous images and make the top one disappear & re-appear with the layer transparency slider and anything new will blink at you, difficult to miss! Keeps me out of the pub and keeps my mind off the bigger questions of life, the Universe and all that! ;) :P

Cheers -

[N5SE]

great photo

[RichardJ]

Observed it again last night with my 15 cm Newtonian. Seems to be brightening. Is it my imagination or does anyone else agree?

RichardJ :)

[xelasnave]

I should have had a go last night but I was so tired even the clear sky could not get me out.
I have been working hard, ser up a store room for astro storage and projects and building the cube observatory...up and down stairs with cumbersome ply paneling etc.
But I got the eight inch up so maybe it tonight. May even get both mounts running together and employ the old canon thru the eight...
Must get an afternoon nap.
Alex

[doppler]

Not much clear sky here ..... still, but managed to get a bit of scope time on wed night (28th). 16 x 15sec exposures at iso 1600, unmodded canon 1100d guided, 10" f4.8 newt.

[PKay]

Nice image Rick.

Tight focus, subtle colour in the star field.

Not sure if 'Alexanova' is bigger...ask Alex :)

[kosborn]

This was taken 14th March. I'm pretty sure the nova is just outside the field of view unfortunately.

Kevin