Cbet No. 1910 issued on 2009, August 17th announces the discovery by Koichi Itagaki of a possible nova (mag 10.0) on his unfiltered CCD survey frames taken on Aug. 16.515 UT using a 0.21-m f/3 reflector.
The nova position:
R.A. = 17h38m19s.68, Decl. = -26d44'14".0 (equinox 2000.0)
An image of the nova (by T. Greiner):
Nova Ophiuchi 2009 has been confirmed spectroscopically by various observers with the BAO 1.01-m telescope on Aug. 17.6 UT, in the course of the BAO Summer School and Japan Space Forum.
U. Munari et al. reports on Cbet No. 1912 that medium-resolution CCD spectrogram (0.06 nm/pixel; range 540-670 nm) was obtained on Aug. 17.83 UT with the 1.22-m telescope of the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory showing a quite-red spectral energy distribution and the very wide profiles of the emission lines.
"The colors, the rapid decline, and the velocity of the ejecta suggest that N Oph 2009 is a highly reddened outburst occourring on a massive white dwarf, not dissimilar from the U-Sco type of recurrent novae. A search in plate archives for missed previous outbursts could pay dividends".
To this end see also this interesting article appeared this morning on Arxiv:
By Ernesto Guido
References:
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