[IAUC] CBET 2796: 20110828 : PR LUPI = NOVA LUPI 2011 = PNV J14542000-5505030

Mie Sep 14 16:18:41 ART 2011

                                                  Electronic Telegram No. 2796
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
CBAT Director:  Daniel W. E. Green; Hoffman Lab 209; Harvard University;
 20 Oxford St.; Cambridge, MA  02138; U.S.A.
e-mail:  cbatiau en eps.harvard.edu (alternate cbat en iau.org)
URL http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/index.html
Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network


PR LUPI = NOVA LUPI 2011 = PNV J14542000-5505030
     Nicholas J. Brown, Two Rocks, Western Australia, reports his discovery of
a possible nova (mag 10.2) on two TMax 400 films taken on Aug. 4.73 UT using a
135-mm-f.l. f/2 Canon camera lens.  Brown's approximate position for the
variable is R.A. = 14h54m20s, Decl. = -55d05'03" (equinox 2000.0); he notes
that nothing brighter than mag 11.7 appears on a film that he took on July
5.85.  The variable was designated PNV J14542000-5505030 when it was posted
on the Central Bureau's TOCP webpage, and based on the spectroscopic reports
confirming the object as a nova (see below), it has been assigned the
permanent GCVS designation PR Lup by N. N. Samus.  Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes,
and Giovanni Sostero report that a CCD image taken of PR Lup remotely through
the 2.0-m f/10 Ritchey-Chretien "Faulkes Telescope South" (+ Bessel R filter)
on Aug. 13.5 shows it at mag 8.4 and at position R.A. = 14h54m23s.09, Decl.
= -55d05'11".2 (equinox 2000.0; USNO-B1.0 catalogue reference stars).  Guido
et al. have posted a color image at website URL http://bit.ly/onysAh, and
a comparison of their image with a Digitized Sky Survey R plate from 1999
is posted at http://bit.ly/pUq8jd.
     Additional magnitudes for PR Lup (visual unless otherwise noted):  July
20.042 UT, [11.5 (W. Liller, Vina del Mar, Chile; 85-mm-f.l. Nikon lens +
Tech Pan film + orange filter); July 25.989, 11.1 (Liller); Aug. 1.008, 10.4
(Liller); Aug. 8.040, 10.3 (A. Amorim, Florianopolis, Brazil; moonlight);
Aug. 8.066, 10.3 (Gonzalo Vargas Beltran, Cochabamba, Bolivia; via E. Waagen,
AAVSO); Aug. 8.375, 10.3 (R. Stubbings, Tetoora Road, Victoria, Australia;
via Waagen); Aug. 12.443, 9.6 (Joseph Brimacombe, Cairns, Australia; remotely
using a 40-cm RCOS telescope + U9000 CCD camera at Macedon Ranges Observatory,
Melbourne, Australia; position end figures 23s.06, 11".2; image posted at
website URL http://www.flickr.com/photos/43846774@N02/6041126507/);
Aug. 13.988, 8.5 (Liller).

     F. M. Walter, Stony Brook University, reports that Brown's suspected
nova is indeed an "Fe II"-type nova.  Photometric and spectroscopic
observations were obtained using the SMARTS/Cerro Tololo facilities, starting
on Aug. 9 UT.  Photometry with the 1.3-m telescope (+ ANDICAM dual-channel
photometer) shows maximum light (V = 9.1, K = 6.2) on Aug. 13.02 (+1/-2 days).
By Aug. 23.0, the nova had faded to V = 11.2 and K = 8.1.  Optical
spectroscopy with the 1.5-m telescope (+ RC specrograph) at a variety of
resolutions between Aug. 9.0 and 22.0 shows the spectrum of a classical
"Fe II"-type nova near maximum light.  Near photometric maximum, on Aug. 12.0,
the blue spectrum (range 365-540 nm; 0.43-nm resolution) showed strong
emission, with P-Cyg absorption, in the Balmer series H-beta through H_11, Ca
II K, and the Fe II multiplets 42 and 49.  At this resolution, a single
absorption component is seen, at a velocity of about -1100 km/s.  On Aug.
13.98, H-alpha had an emission equivalent-width of -17.0 nm, with P-Cyg
absorption at -1100 km/s.  Low-dispersion (1.7-nm resolution) spectra covering
the full optical range on Aug. 16.97 and 22.04 show strong emission from O I
630.0-, 777.4-, and 844.6-nm; C II 732.5-nm; and the Ca infrared triplet.
As of Aug. 22.0, no helium lines were obvious, and no high-temperature lines
had appeared.

     H. L. Malasan, J. Suherli, and E. Wiyando, Bosscha Observatory, Institut
Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia; and A. Arai and H. Kawakita, Koyama Astronomical
Observatory, Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan, report on optical spectroscopic
observations (R about 400) of PNV J14542000-5505030 = PR Lup on Aug. 16.6 UT
at Bosscha Observatory using a 20-cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (+ SBIG DSS7
spectrograph).  The spectra exhibit strong H-alpha, H-beta, and Fe II multiplet
emissions, suggesting that the variable is a "Fe II"-type classical nova.
P-Cygni profiles are absent, and the FWHM of the H-alpha emission is about
1700 km/s.


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2011 CBAT
2011 August 28                   (CBET 2796)              Daniel W. E. Green