Nova in Cas

[IB20]

Feels like ages since I last observed this nova.   Tonight was the first time I’ve viewed it through a scope. Seems to be the dimmest I’ve seen it, I have it around mag 7.8! Bonus views of M52 for the first time and my new favourite in Wz Cass. 

[lunator]

I had a look last night as well. It has definitely faded from a couple of days ago. 

I estimated about Mag 7.3.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Pixies]

It's been 6 months now, and although pretty variable, it's not really showing any obvious long-term decline in brightness (to my uneducated eyes).

Most observing nights, albeit pretty few-and-far-between this year, I'll give it a quick check in the 10x50 binos. If it is easily visible in my bright-ish skies, I know it is in one of its brighter phases.

[PeterW]

With Cassiopaea now at a different angle in the sky since the spring I’ve lost my mental star hop.. need to reacquaint myself with the field so I can catch it again.

Peter

[lunator]

Hi Peter

It is a pretty easy find. If you use the Shedar  (Alpha Cass) and Caph (Beta Cass) as guides it is a straight foward target.

Start at Alpha and follow the line through Beta extend this line the same distance agsin and you will be on 4 Cass.

At low power the Novae will be in the same field of view.

cheers

Ian

[Dave scutt]

30 minutes ago, lunator said:

Hi Peter

It is a pretty easy find. If you use the Shedar  (Alpha Cass) and Caph (Beta Cass) as guides it is a straight foward target.

Start at Alpha and follow the line through Beta extend this line the same distance agsin and you will be on 4 Cass.

At low power the Novae will be in the same field of view.

cheers

Ian

Hi lunatic any chance you could show where it is on a sky map please still learning my way round the heavens .

Thanks dave

[lunator]

2 hours ago, Dave scutt said:

Hi lunatic any chance you could show where it is on a sky map please still learning my way round the heavens .

Thanks dave

Hi Dave, I hope this helps.

Cheers

Ian

[Dave scutt]

Thankyou Ian, will try and find it when (if) it's stops raining 

[7170]

ASTAP has it as mag 7.5 tonight in my image below.

[7170]

With the heavy rain tonight (and thunder and lighting) I've had some time to quickly process up this wider shot of V1405 Cas. I thought I would share it as the edge of M52 is just visible on the left so gives an idea of where to find it visually if you know how to find M52. Image scale is c1.29″/px so at 2166x1760 it covers a field of view of 46.6 x 37.8 arcminutes.

@JeremyS, this one has been a fascinating one to monitor over the last six months - are there any theories as to what is causing the dimming and brightening pattern yet, and how long it may keep going? It would be fascinating to see how the spectrum of light has changed over time too (if indeed it has).

Edited September 28, 2021 by 7170

[Paul M]

22 hours ago, 7170 said:

ASTAP has it as mag 7.5 tonight in my image below.

Hmm.

I'll maybe one day work out why I get wildly different magnitude figures from ASTAP than all other estimate sources.

 

[JeremyS]

20 minutes ago, 7170 said:

With the heavy rain tonight (and thunder and lighting) I've had some time to quickly process up this wider shot of V1405 Cas. I thought I would share it as the edge of M52 is just visible on the left so gives an idea of where to find it visually if you know how to find M52. Image scale is c1.29″/px so at 2166x1760 it covers a field of view of 46.6 x 37.8 arcminutes.

@JeremyS, this one has been a fascinating one to monitor over the last six months - are there any theories as to what is causing the dimming and brightening pattern yet, and how long it may keep going? It would be fascinating to see how the spectrum of light has changed over time too (if indeed it has).

Yes - have a look at the post I made above on Sept 10. 

[7170]

3 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Hmm.

I'll maybe one day work out why I get wildly different magnitude figures from ASTAP than all other estimate sources.

Hi Paul, how close to saturation is the target? I try not to let the max go above 50k out of 64k for a 16 bit image, and always use darks, and Sigma clip average if stacking. A test of an image is to solve then select "Star (database) annotation" and then measure a few stars manually to see how close they are to the database. 

[JeremyS]

2 minutes ago, 7170 said:

Hi Paul, how close to saturation is the target? I try not to let the max go above 50k out of 64k for a 16 bit image, and always use darks, and Sigma clip average if stacking. A test of an image is to solve then select "Star (database) annotation" and then measure a few stars manually to see how close they are to the database. 

Indeed. Worth checking.

Another consideration is the colour sensitivity of the chip. This nova has been red and bright. And some chips are more sensitive to red light than other colours. So unfiltered magnitudes come out apparently brighter than V-band filtered mags. 

[7170]

9 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Yes - have a look at the post I made above on Sept 10. 

Thanks, I'll have a read of the paper tomorrow when there are no distractions in the room and a cup of tea is to hand! 😀 

[Captain Scarlet]

It’s just gone clear between squalls so I thought I’d get a quick look before bed. Through 15x56 bins. It looks very much the same as the bright star in M52, SAO 20606, making by my estimation around 8.2 mag. 

Magnus

[Paul M]

9 hours ago, 7170 said:

Hi Paul, how close to saturation is the target? I try not to let the max go above 50k out of 64k for a 16 bit image, and always use darks, and Sigma clip average if stacking. A test of an image is to solve then select "Star (database) annotation" and then measure a few stars manually to see how close they are to the database. 

It probably is a saturation problem. I do usually get good comparisons against the database for field stars but I guess the nova is that much brighter and is the only saturated star.

[lunator]

V1405 cass looked about the same as HD220770 last night. I estimated mag 7.8

Cheers

Ian

[Malpi12]

Still entertaining us ,my first view in a while and it looks quite bright ! near HIP 115691 / HD220819 which is 6.6 in my stellarium. 

 

[JeremyS]

Latest light curve 

[Malpi12]

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Latest light curve 

I agree with aavso  ! 

I was able to snap 10x1sec exposures with 135mm lens, aps-c, tripod  while the moon was still low.
Then played in dss, gimp and imageJ so, about 1/2 between  HD220770@ m7.8  and  HD220819 @ m6.6 ( So oi'll giv it a m7.2 )

Edited October 21, 2021 by Malpi12

[Wiu-Wiu]

When imaging the Bubble Nebula last week, I noticed this nova is still quite bright. At first glance, it is almost as bright as that one star to the upper right of the Bubble, Vmag 6,944

 

[7170]

Yesterday was very clear and I took the opportunity to image it again. ASTAP has it at mag 8.0 (vs 7.5 on 21/9/21), which looks to be consistent with other submission showing on the aavso light curve.

[7170]

This evening has been unexpectedly clear, and I've just measured it as mag 8.26. Other submissions on aavso suggest it has dimmed slightly in the last few days, with the last three submitted today (as of just now) at 8.2/8.3.

[7170]

As an update, I just measured it as 8.97, which looks to be broadly inline with others on AAVSO today. So slightly dimmer than last time.

Edited November 21, 2021 by 7170