BRIGHT NOVA IN LUPUS - (PNV J15290182-4449409)

Following the posting on ATel #9538 & #9539 and on the Central Bureau's Transient  Object Confirmation Page about a possible bright Nova in Lupus (TOCP Designation:  PNV J15290182-4449409)  discovered in the course of the V-band All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernova (ASAS-SN) on images obtained on Sept. 24.010 UT using the robotic 14-cm telescopes, I performed some follow-up of this object remotely through a 0.32-m f/9 reflector + CCD + f7 focal reducer of iTelescope network (MPC Code  Q62 - Siding spring, Australia).

On my images taken on September 27.4, 2016 I can confirm the presence of an optical counterpart with unfiltered magnitude about 6.5 - 7.0 (rough estimate) at coordinates:

R.A. = 15 29 01.76, Decl.= -44 49 39.7 (equinox 2000.0; UCAC-4 catalogue reference stars).

Below my image of Nova Lupus. Details on the caption. Click on the image for a bigger version.

An animation showing a comparison between my confirmation image and the archive POSS2/UKSTU Red plate (1992-07-30). Click on the thumbnail below for a bigger version:

According to the Cbet 4322 issued on September 27, 2016: "T. Bohlsen (Armidale, NSW, Australia) obtained a noisy spectrogram on Sept. 24 (time unknown) that shows H_alpha emission and also an image that yielded magnitude V = 6.8; he surmised from this that the variable does appear to be a galactic nova."

by Ernesto Guido

Close Approach of Asteroid 2016 RB1

The asteroid 2016 RB1 was discovered  (at ~ magnitude +19) on 2016, September 05 by Mt. Lemmon Survey (MPC code G96) with a 1.5-m reflector + 10K CCD. 

Asteroid 2016 RB1 has an estimated size of 7.3 m - 16 m (based on the object's absolute magnitude H=27.8) and it will have a close approach with Earth at about 0.1 LD (Lunar Distances = ~384,000 kilometers) or 0.0003 AU (1 AU = ~150 million  kilometers) on 2016, September 7 at 17:20UT and it will reach a peak magnitude of about +12.3. Radio astronomers will try to  observe it as 2016 RB1 could be a really strong radar target during its close approach.

I performed some follow-up measurements of this object on 2016, September 07.6, remotely from the Q62 iTelescope network (Siding Spring, Australia) through a 0.4-m f/3.5 reflector + CCD. Below you can see our image taken with the asteroid at about magnitude +13 and moving at ~ 503 "/min. At the moment of its close approach on Sep 07, around 17UT, 2016 RB1 will move at ~ 2716 "/min (or about  45.2 deg/hour). The asteroid is trailed in the image due to its fast speed. Click on the image below to see a bigger version. (North is up, East is to the left). 

by Ernesto Guido