9th September
Nova discovery M31 Andromeda galaxyDuring my regular patrols of M31 I blink two new images with a reference image.
On this occasion it was easy to spot a new object:
Nick James of 'The Astronomer' was able to confirm that there was indeed an object at that location.
This image is a stack of 10 x 600 second images:
Nick James' confirmation image:
Nick contacted TOCP and posted the discovery information here.
As can be seen, other observers spotted it on the same night.
Fortunately Nick was the first to post the discovery!
The nova is very faint on an image from 8th September :
10th September
There was a short break in the clouds - enough to get three images of the nova.
It has brightened considerably and is now at about magnitude 16.6
This sequence from Sept. 1st (before discovery) through to last night shows the stages in brightness.
11th September
Nova perhaps a little brighter?
14th September
This image also shows AT2017gsc, discovered 2017/09/13.854 by Emmanuel Conseil
16th September
The 2.0 meter Liverpool telescope has attained a spectrum which confirms the object as a classical nova of type FeII.
ATEL announcement here.
The nova is fading rapidly. Cloudy skies necessitated use ot the remote iTelescope in Spain.
The nova was barely visible.
21st September
Pinpoint and Astrometrica give different results for magnitude. This is a chart of all readings up to 21st September.
The subtraction of one image from another is useful for detecting novae close to the core of M31.
The usual blink method does not work due to the very bright core.
This shows 3 novae.
