I’ve just been out in my back yard observing a possible nova in Delphinus discovered within the last day, currently designated PNV J20233073+2046041. This is a bright object. I made a visual estimate via 7×50 binoculars just now of 5.6.
I was alerted to the nova through a Variable Stars South mailing list and obtained further details (e.g. finder chart) on the AAVSO nova forum.
Here’s an excerpt from the CBAT Transient Objects site:
2013 08 14.584
Discovered by Koichi Itagaki, Yamagata, Japan, using 0.18-m reflector + unfiltered CCD. This Nova was confirmed on the frames taken on August 14.750 UT using 0.60-m f/5.7 reflector + unfiltered CCD after discovery. Then CCD magnitude is 6.3. Also nothing is visible at this location on his past frames (limiting mag.= 13.0) taken on 2013 August 13.565 UT.
The latest AAVSO light curve for the nova is shown below, with my observation under the cross-hairs.
While I was composing this post, another visual estimate was added to the AAVSO International Database. Visual estimates have an accuracy of about a tenth of a magnitude, so the fact that recent observations (5.5 and 5.6) differ by 0.1 of a magnitude is not too surprising.
It will be interesting to see how this object evolves in the near future. I wouldn’t be surprised to see amateur spectroscopy in the next few days.
Mike Simonsen points to a nice colour image of the nova.
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