Was a time I would have been out there in the cold observing it and recording my estimates of it's visual magnitude , at mag 6 , it's an easy target for my 20x80 binos which is what I would have used rather than the 10" newt.
A comparison chart for it wont be far off if Matty is still on the ball.
Anyone interested in making some actual scientific observations of it might find the AAVSO's chart generator program handy
http://www.aavso.org/observing/chart...e=N%20TrA%2008 to produce a chart to get started with until someone makes a better comparison chart. Pretty easy and pretty quick (see attachment), worth bookmarking !!
The idea is to choose two comparison stars of known brightness that the variable / nova is inbetween in brightness , estimate linearly (scale of 4 - 10 increments guessometrically) how far the object's brightness is fainter and brighter than the brighter and fainter comparison stars , not the time and date , and come back for another squiz at it a few hours later , or a the next day , or the next week , depending on how steap the light curve is.
The numbers are magnitudes 102 = 10.2
I'm sure the AAVSO or you local club's variable star group will accept you measurements and forward them to AAVSO or NZASVSS or BAAVSS.
This is a great way for beginner and not so beginner amateurs to actually feel that they are contributing to science in a real way.
