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.
Jan Brunowski, Johannes Kepler's assistant, first observed the phenomenon in October 1604; Kepler studied it until early 1606, when the supernova was no longer visible to the unaided eye. At its greatest apparent magnitude (about -2.5), the exploding star was brighter than Jupiter.Wow, you're really up on this stuff! Here I've always thought SN 1054 was the only one discovered by naked eye in the last 1,000 - 1,500 years or so.Kepler's Nova | supernova | Britannica
www.britannica.com › ... › Astronomy
SN 1604, also known as Kepler's Supernova, Kepler's Nova or Kepler's Star, was a Type Ia supernova that occurred in the Milky Way, in the constellation Ophiuchus.Kepler's Supernova - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org › Kepler's_Supernova
I’m having NOVA salmon on a bagel with cream cheese this morning for breakfast. Does that count?
It means "new". So "new nova" actually means "new new".
Cool! I gotta go check this out.
Thanks for the information on Kepler’s supernova (maybe it should be called the Kepler-Brunowski supernova). I didn’t remember the exact date. That was just a few years before the invention of the telescope. If Brahe had not died prematurely he could have used the telescope for his observations.
Thanks LibWhacker.
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