Nova in Cas

[JeremyS]

On 08/05/2021 at 10:45, John said:

Nova Delphini got to magnitude 4.3 in 2013 and was a naked eye nova. Has there been a naked eye one since then ?

 

I think that Nova Del was the last NE nova, John, at least from these latitudes.

Has anyone spotted the current nova with NE?

A few obs in the last few hours have it at 5.3 to 5.4

[John]

On 09/05/2021 at 12:49, JeremyS said:

Has anyone spotted the current nova with NE?

A few obs in the last few hours have it at 5.3 to 5.4

Tonight I reckon the nova is very nearly as bright as 4 Cassiopeia so it must be getting close to magnitude 5.0 I would think.

I can't quite see it with the naked eye - if it were higher though, I think I could. Atmospheric extinction is probably just scrubbing enough brightness off to keep it requiring an optical aid at present.

The nova is easily visible with my smallest binoculars which are 8x25's.

 

 

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Tonight I reckon the nova is very nearly as bright as 4 Cassiopeia so it must be getting close to magnitude 5.0 I would think.

That was the same as I found just now John, must be getting on for Mag 5, so much brighter than when I last got a chance to view it. No chance of it being naked eye for me from here, much too much LP down low and in the direction of the big smoke!!

[Stu]

Hardly scientific, but I’ve tried to match two images, one from 5th April and the other from tonight. Big increase in brightness!

[Captain Scarlet]

After being shamed by @PeterW for not bothering to venture beyond my garden (living room actually) to skirt obstructions, I went out to a local alley with a view N and with @Stu’s help found it fairly quickly. Pretty pleased, and maybe a faint hint of M52 in averted knowing exactly where it was but not sure.

M

[John]

6 minutes ago, Captain Magenta said:

After being shamed by @PeterW for not bothering to venture beyond my garden (living room actually) to skirt obstructions, I went out to a local alley with a view N and with @Stu’s help found it fairly quickly. Pretty pleased, and maybe a faint hint of M52 in averted knowing exactly where it was but not sure.

M

Was this naked eye Magnus ?

 

[Captain Scarlet]

Just now, John said:

Was this naked eye Magnus ?

 

Haha no. I’m in mag 19 skies and that direction for me is very bright so naked eye no chance, I was only just able yo make out the W of Cass naked eye. I had my Zeiss 15x56 binoculars.

[John]

Really quite close to naked eye visibility for this nova here tonight.

I can see a pair of mag 4.85 stars just below the position of the nova and possibly the odd glimmer of 4 Cassiopeia but I can't claim the nova.

If it brightened by half a magnitude that would do nicely  

[PeterW]

Brightness seems have flattened off just  fainter than 5th mag.

Shamed @Captain Magenta?? I’m normally the one who looks out at the streetlights and goes to bed…. great to hear you got it.

Peter
 

[AdeKing]

7 hours ago, Stu said:

Hardly scientific, but I’ve tried to match two images, one from 5th April and the other from tonight. Big increase in brightness!

Thanks for this comparison Stu, it confirms what I saw last night.

It's been a few weeks since I've observed the Nova and given that it is now so much brighter it made me really have to study the charts in SkySafari to confirm what I was seeing.

[JeremyS]

I’ve seen the first naked report. Filipp Romanov at it at 5.1 last night, observing from eastern Siberia, near Vladivostok (42deg N). Looking at his location on Google maps, he’s pretty remote!

[Stu]

9 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I’ve seen the first naked report. Filipp Romanov at it at 5.1 last night, observing from eastern Siberia, near Vladivostok (42deg N). Looking at his location on Google maps, he’s pretty remote!

Hope it was warm out Jeremy?

I just tried to put together a gif and video showing the comparison between my two images.

[Nik271]

I managed to take 20x 2sec  images of the Nova last night (10 May) around 10:30pm with my DSLR and 85mm lens at F2.5 and stacked them. Here is the slightly cropped result:

It is much brighter than a few weeks ago. Based on my binocular observation and this photo I will put it at 5.3: a bit dimmer than 4 Cas itself, which is mag 5, but brighter than the nearby HIP 115395 which is 5.6. Definitely in NE visibility territory, just not NE visible in my skies yet. Very exciting development!

Nik

[Paul M]

I got out with the Mak 127 last night, didn't clear until midnight but was super transparent sky then.

As soon as the first image landed I was shocked at how bright it has become. Anyway, if only for aesthetic purposes I give you my latest rendition: 

15 x 30 sec. Mak 127, ASI178 camera. Guiding was perfect   

 

As the dawn crept up in the east I decided to have a look with the bins, I've not actually looked at this nova!! The sky was to bright to star hop and I really don't know the wider field, having only seen it through the narrow view of the camera. My conclusion is that I definitely saw it but no idea which one it was! 🤪 

[bob-c]

52 minutes ago, Paul M said:

I got out with the Mak 127 last night, didn't clear until midnight but was super transparent sky then.

As soon as the first image landed I was shocked at how bright it has become. Anyway, if only for aesthetic purposes I give you my latest rendition: 

15 x 30 sec. Mak 127, ASI178 camera. Guiding was perfect   

 

As the dawn crept up in the east I decided to have a look with the bins, I've not actually looked at this nova!! The sky was to bright to star hop and I really don't know the wider field, having only seen it through the narrow view of the camera. My conclusion is that I definitely saw it but no idea which one it was! 🤪 

Nice catch Paul, i also imaged it last night and i was shocked also as to how bright it has become since my last attempt around a month back.. 

 

Bob.

[bob-c]

5 hours ago, Nik271 said:

I managed to take 20x 2sec  images of the Nova last night (10 May) around 10:30pm with my DSLR and 85mm lens at F2.5 and stacked them. Here is the slightly cropped result:

It is much brighter than a few weeks ago. Based on my binocular observation and this photo I will put it at 5.3: a bit dimmer than 4 Cas itself, which is mag 5, but brighter than the nearby HIP 115395 which is 5.6. Definitely in NE visibility territory, just not NE visible in my skies yet. Very exciting development!

Nik

Nice one Nick.

 

Bob

[bob-c]

15 hours ago, Stu said:

Hardly scientific, but I’ve tried to match two images, one from 5th April and the other from tonight. Big increase in brightness!

Well done Stu, a good comparison.

 

Bob.

[Pixies]

2 hours ago, Paul M said:

My conclusion is that I definitely saw it but no idea which one it was! 🤪 

have a look at the diagrams on page 2 of this thread, esp @Waddensky's: 

 

[Stu]

10 minutes ago, Pixies said:

have a look at the diagrams on page 2 of this thread, esp @Waddensky's: 

 

The AAVSO map is also very handy...

https://app.aavso.org/vsp/chart/?star=N+Cas+2021&scale=C&orientation=visual&type=chart&fov=240.0&maglimit=10.0&title=Nova+Cass+2021&resolution=150&north=up&east=left&P=on&Z=on

[Stardaze]

There doesn't appear to be a break in this heavy cloud at the moment, again this week. Really want to see the difference. 🙁

[John]

45 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

There doesn't appear to be a break in this heavy cloud at the moment, again this week. Really want to see the difference. 🙁

I had a couple of clear hours late last night, which was a nice surprise, but otherwise it's not been great

 

[IB20]

Some extremely changeable weather at the minute but got a cloud break opportunity last night to view the nova. Easily viewed with 8x & 15x bins still and suggest it’s possibly brightened since I last saw it at around mag 5-5.3. Not a NE object for me at 22:30ish but some street lights in my area get switched off at midnight, so it might be possible from then onwards.

[kev100]

I was out with the 10x50s till about 10.15, so not really dark/late enough. I think I saw it, but couldn’t be sure. Going to have another go towards the weekend #weatherpermitting 

Edited May 12, 2021 by kev100

[PeterW]

Looks rock solid at 5.3 past few nights, don’t know how fast were you expect it to roll off. Get it while you can!

Peter

[Stu]

16 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Looks rock solid at 5.3 past few nights, don’t know how fast were you expect it to roll off. Get it while you can!

Peter

From what I’ve read, 30 to 100 days is a typical time frame before it returns to previous brightness levels. Given that we are at about 54 days now, and it has recently brightened again, I wonder if this one will be on the longer side. Will be interesting to watch.