Posted on 03/20/2021 2:22:09 AM PDT by LibWhacker
An amateur astronomer just spotted a strange new object in the sky. And it’s bright enough for you to see with binoculars from your backyard.
The discovery image (left) of a new nova that recently appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia. The right image shows how the same region of the sky appeared just four days prior. Yuji Nakamura At around 7 P.M. JST on the evening of March 18, Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Nakamura spotted something strange: A new point of light in the familiar constellation Cassiopeia the Queen.
Researchers at Kyoto University quickly followed up using the 3.8-meter Seimei Telescope atop Mt. Chikurinji in Japan. They obtained a spectrum of the new object, hoping to determine its nature based on clues hiding in its light.
They discovered that the object, which is cataloged as PNV J23244760+6111140, is a classical nova: An outburst from a white dwarf that’s stealing matter from its nearby companion star.
A Chevy Nova? It can’t be that new.
Are they sure it isn't an OLD nova?
What does the Latin word "nova" mean, anyway?
Regards,
Nova Cas 2021 is at RA 23 24 47.73 Dec +61 11 14.8 (J2000.0)
March 19th mag estimate around 7.8 from what I can find on other blogs. Very near M52.
LOL! Beat me to it. I was going to ask.
Nova: Feminine of Novus, meaning new because it thought to be newly formed. According to a quick dictionary query.
No va. It doesn’t go. :-)
A Champagne Supernova?
THanks!
No va. It doesn’t go. :-)
*****
Well this kind of sucks. When you are the first to find something in astronomy, generally it’s named after you. But since “No va” is Latin for “It doesn’t go”, this could be interpreted as the “Nakamura no go”...
Maybe that’s why few Novas are named after their discoverer?
That’s why you always want to discover a comet or a new planet.
“Researchers at Kyoto University quickly followed up using the 3.8-meter Seimei Telescope atop Mt. Chikurinji in Japan.”
Outstanding! Will it be visible in a 2.8 meter telescope? That’s all I have in my garage. Probably worth a look anyway.
Starlink #761
“No va” is Spanish for “it doesn’t go,” not Latin. The joke is that GM couldn’t understand why the “Nova” (the “It doesn’t go”) didn’t sell in Latin America.
Tycho Brahe saw a supernova in Cassiopeia, one of the brightest ever seen from earth. I don’t know how it compares to the supernova of 1054 which created the Crab Nebula (mentioned in Chinese records).
Around November 16, 1572, it reached its peak brightness at about magnitude −4.0, with some descriptions giving it as equal to Venus when that planet was at its brightest. The supernova remained visible to the naked eye into early 1574, gradually fading until it disappeared from view.Wiki gives SN 1054's peak apparent magnitude at -6.0, bright enough to see in daylight.
Thanks! Way too dim for naked eye observation. Hereabouts it’s been too hazy and we’re just too close to the big city anyway. Would pull out the olde dob or the old binocs if they weren’t in storage.
We might still have time to catch it though, right? Takes a while for a white dwarf to gobble up its neighbor.
The Enterprise laves the area when a supernova begins
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/c/ce/Beta_Niobe_nova_remastered.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20190527022553&path-prefix=en
I think Kepler also saw a supernova, after Tycho’s death, but I don’t remember where in the sky it was visible.
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