T Coronae Borealis

[whooshbang]

Based on previous observations this could go Nova very soon so those of you that are bored waiting for Betelgeuse to go, this might fill the gap.

Here's a quick wiki piece on it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_Coronae_Borealis

And Tsula (as always) does an entertaining video  https://youtu.be/8eVr82_o9rA

 

 

 

[MalcolmP]

T CrB brighter tonight(28-29 April) than it has been since early March
Mostly I have had it about m10.3 +/-, on a par with BAA comparison HD 143128 @ m10.3
but tonight I have it just shy of BAA comp HD 143256 @ m9.8

Clouds as usual terminated play, before I could decide if this was significant or just a blip !
Worth a look/check anyone with a clear sky and still awake  

Edited May 1 by MalcolmP
corrected (AAVSO) to read BAA

[whooshbang]

Thanks!

Keeping a close on this now.

[M40]

Took this the other night as I thought I would try and keep a record over the year,  but because I am good, I completely forgot to take the star info 🤦‍♂️

 

Apparently the star has an 80 year cycle and this year is the year that it glows at its brightest before dimming again. 

Edited April 30 by M40

[TiffsAndAstro]

1 hour ago, M40 said:

Took this the other night as I thought I would try and keep a record over the year,  but because I am good, I completely forgot to take the star info 🤦‍♂️

 

Apparently the star has an 80 year cycle and this year is the year that it glows at its brightest before dimming again. 

I have my solar glasses ready for the glare, any day now

[Geoff Lister]

I took a quick one with my Seestar S50 this evening. I used Epsilon CrB (top left), at magnitude 4.1, as a reference for brightness. T CrB is the bright spot above-right of IC 4587. It should be obvious when T CrB goes nova.

Geoff

[Geoff Lister]

Last night, it was still around magnitude 10.

Geoff

[Hals]

Looking forward to this recurrent nova. I remember reading about it when I was a kid (one of Patrick Moore's books) and thinking I'll be old when it goes again. 

It's going to go again and I'm old !

[LondonNeil]

Thanks for ID ing it,  I tried to find it in Stellaryium but couldn't.  Possibly because I've only got the free version (work phone and it's locked down preventing the full version being purchased).

[Geoff Lister]

10 hours ago, LondonNeil said:

Thanks for ID ing it,  I tried to find it in Stellaryium but couldn't.  Possibly because I've only got the free version (work phone and it's locked down preventing the full version being purchased).

I have the free version (23.4) of  Stellarium running on my PC. T Coronae Borealis can be identified with a search for "T CrB", and other identifiers are "Blaze Star", "Jef 2", "HIP 78322", "HR 5958", "HD 143454" or "SAO 84129". Its epoch J2000 coordinates are RA 15h59m31.62s and DEC +25deg55'10.7". I have also used a search for the adjacent IC 4587, and because the Seestar app's "Mark" function works with this galaxy, it gets me close. As the night and year progress, the relative positions between T CrB and IC 4587 will change in my Seesar image, but the (circular) distance will remain constant.

Solid cloud cover will, of course, obscure the nova event from my back garden.

12 hours ago, Hals said:

Looking forward to this recurrent nova. I remember reading about it when I was a kid (one of Patrick Moore's books) and thinking I'll be old when it goes again. 

It's going to go again and I'm old !

I re-kindled my interest in astronomy in 1986 with Halley's Comet and purchased my Tasco 3" Newtonian. I hope that medical technology will keep me alive to see it again, in 2061, when I will be really old; but now I have better kit to view (and image) it.

Geoff

[LondonNeil]

Thanks!  Stellaryium on my phone doesn't seem to find it but sky tonight does! Hip 78322, hr5958, hd143454, tyc2037-1144-1.

[bosun21]

The Stellarium mobile and PC app are not the same.

[Elp]

As mentioned in the mobile version of stellarium the star can be easily found by using Corona Borealis naming convention T Cr then B.

[LondonNeil]

I take it that's the full version Elp?  Because I can find the constellation but none of the various searches suggested find T for the free version on my phone.   It's a bit frustrating I can't put the paid version on the phone,  but it's locked down by work. 

[PeterStudz]

Getting confusing as there are different versions on different devices. And there’s also the web version of Stellarium.

Using the free iOS app on iPhone T Corona Borealis isn’t there. But using the free web app (https://stellarium-web.org) on iPhone I can find it by searching for “T CrB”.

Edited May 26 by PeterStudz

[Elp]

1 hour ago, LondonNeil said:

I take it that's the full version Elp?  Because I can find the constellation but none of the various searches suggested find T for the free version on my phone.   It's a bit frustrating I can't put the paid version on the phone,  but it's locked down by work. 

It might be because I'm using an older version v1.3, I tried the stellarium on play store once and saw it's UI was updated which I didn't like, the older version is much better to simply scroll through time via side swiping when I'm planning imaging.

Here's a screenshot, it comes up when you start typing T Cr:

[LondonNeil]

Hmm, yes that's different to me. 

Ahh, I just tried something,  I searched on 'Cr B' and get  a long list. 

Alpha,  beta, constellation,  R, gamma,   theta, epsilon, zeta², delta,  tau, iota, kappa xi, eta,  eta (again?), mu, nu¹, sigma,  sigma¹, rho, nu², lamda, omicron,  pi, upsilon, zeta¹, rs,  uv, rr, and u.

Great.... but no T....grrr!

 

Is there a way to find it in the synscan app?

[Elp]

Best bet is probably to use IC4587 as a ref point. Or if star hopping start from Epsilon CrB, three stars down like Orion's belt, them forth one down directly in line and below E CrB.

Edited May 26 by Elp

[LondonNeil]

I can 'find' it by star hopping in the app...start from epsilon,  find the 3 almost in a line to the south, hop on and yes I see it.... but it's not in the database,  can't click on it. 

[LondonNeil]

Aha, yes ic4587 is in synscan's db. Excellent, thank you. 

[MalcolmP]

While we are waiting for TCrB to do its thing we can watch the approach of asteroid (2)Pallas, not far away in Hercules at the moment and will be a photo op in late June when it will be about 15' (1/2 moon dia) from TCrB.
Though at ~mag10 it may get lost in the glare of the ~mag2 nova !
 

 

 

[Geoff Lister]

6 hours ago, MalcolmP said:

While we are waiting for TCrB to do its thing we can watch the approach of asteroid (2)Pallas

Thank you Malcolm. I had a play with my PC version of Stellarium, and on 23/06/2024, at about 11pm; T CrB, epsilon CrB, IC 4587 and ( 2) Pallas should all be in the same Seestar or Dwarf 2 frame. About 2 minutes of imaging should be all I need; clouds permitting.

Geoff

[DaveL59]

From this video he says brightness dropped recently so could indicate it'll go anytime soon

 

[whooshbang]

Love the clickbait thumbnail 😄