Supernova SN2019va in UGC 8577 - a bit of a challenge!

[alanjgreen]

After spending a couple of hours on bright galaxies and comets, I turned my attention to Supernova (as the Plough finally appeared from behind the shed roof).

First up was SN2018hna in UGC7534 (mag 14.9) in Ursa Major.

- I had observed this one already so I was on a "confirmation" mission. I soon located the oblong of stars (at the centre of the images), one corner of this oblong is the SN. I spent some time and noted another faint close-in star (to confirm on the image today) and everything matches up.

- With the 55mm Plossl and Night Vision the core of UGC7534 really lights up and all you see of the galaxy disk is a smudge to the south of the core.

 

 

Next up was a new SN for me. SN2019va in UGC8577 (mag 16.7!). Its located near the arm of the Plough.

- With the 55mm Plossl, I soon matched the star patterns to my sketch (that I made from the images earlier). There was no sign of the galaxy but there are other visible UGCs in the fov (to add confusion). There was no sign of the SN.

- I swapped in the Panoptic 35mm (x60 magnification) and the fainter stars got a little clearer. I was now sensing a disturbance in the centre of the fov which must have been the galaxy disk. A point of light blinked in and out three or four times. I noted the position based on the star pattern and was able to confirm the blinking dot in the correct location.

Hopefully, SN2019va will get a little brighter by the time I get another shot.

Alan

[alanjgreen]

I managed to get SN2019va in direct vision this morning. Here is an excerpt from my observing report...

SN2019va (NGC8577) – I started with the 18.2 DeLite (x115) and 610nm red filter installed. I could make out the galaxy faintly (which was an improvement on my last attempt) and sure enough with averted the tiny supernova came into view underneath the galaxy. I swapped in the 27mm Pan (x77) and again I could see the host galaxy (although fainter) and with averted and a little time and patience eventually the supernova too. The moonlight was dimming now and I removed the 610nm red filter and returned to the 18.2 DeLite. I got my clearest view of the supernova of the night. In all cases the supernova was not immediately obvious, it took some time and looking for it to eventually appear into view.

Alan