CONTINUED THROUGH 2017
April 15, 2015: Dr. Fabienne A. Bastien (Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow, Pennsylvania State University) has requested AAVSO assistance in monitoring the rare FU Ori object 2MASS J06593158-0405277 as part of a campaign to observe this T Tauri star from the optical to the infrared in the coming weeks.
April 2, 2015: Dr. Axel Schwope (Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, Germany) has requested AAVSO observers' assistance in monitoring the magnetic variable AM Her in support of upcoming XMM-Newton plus NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) observations.
The XMM-Newton observations are scheduled for 2015 April 06 02:37:02-15:07:02 UT. The NuSTAR observations have not been made final yet but are expected to run longer. A Special Notice will be issued when the NuSTAR schedule is known.
April 2, 2015
Event: Nova Oph 2015 = PNV J17291350-1846120 [V2944 Oph]
Discovered by: Yukio Sakurai, Ibaraki-ken, Japan
Discovery magnitude: 12.2 unfiltered, using 180-mm f/2.8 lens
Discovery date: 2015 March 29.766 UT
Coordinates: R.A. 17 29 13.58 Dec. -18 46 11.7 (2000.0)
March 31, 2015
Event: Supernova in NGC 2442: SN 2015F = PSN J07361576-6930230
Discovered by: Libert A. G. Monard, Calitzdorp, Western Cape, South Africa
Discovery magnitude: 16.8 unfiltered CCD using a 35-cm RCX400 telescope (+SBIG ST8-XME camera)
Discovery date: 2015 March 9.789 UT
Coordinates: R.A. 07 36 15.76 Dec. -69 30 23.0 (2000.0)
SN 2015F is located 40" west and 84" north of the center of NGC 2442.
Note: A thread for this campaign has been created in the AAVSO Campaigns and Observation Reports discussion forum: https://www.aavso.org/rw-aur-monitoring
This campaign has been extended at least through 2022. Please continue to monitor RW Aur until further notice. - Elizabeth O. Waagen, 17 April 2020
Campaign extended through 2018. Also, campaign updated in Special Notice #402 (20150413).
March 18, 2015: Dr. Paula Szkody, University of Washington, has requested our help in monitoring the cataclysmic variable GW Lib for upcoming Hubble Space Telescope observations, scheduled to be made during the window 2015 April 22-25 UT. Dr. Szkody also observed this object with HST in March 2011 and March 2010 (see AAVSO Alert Notices 433 and 417, respectively).
March 16, 2015
Event: Nova Sagittarii 2015 No. 2 = PNV J18365700-2855420 [V5668 Sgr]
Discovered by: John Seach, Chatsworth Island, NSW, Australia
Discovery magnitude: 6.0 using DSLR and 50mm f/1.0 lens
Discovery date: 2015 March 15.634 UT
Coordinates: R.A. 18 36 56.84 Dec. -28 55 39.8 (2000.0)
Campaign continued through 2017 at least. Also, campaign updated in AAVSO Special Notice #408 (20151002).
March 13, 2015: Dr. George Rieke (University of Arizona) and colleagues have requested AAVSO assistance in monitoring four stars with developing planetary systems. The targets are RZ Psc, HD 15407A, V488 Per, and HD 23514. This campaign is similar to the one conducted in 2013 (see AAVSO Alert Notice 482).
March 5, 2015: The AAVSO is requesting observations of the symbiotic nova candidate ASAS J174600-2321.3 during the predicted upcoming eclipse of this system. Observers are asked to begin observing immediately (2015 March 5), and continue observations through the end of July 2015. Both visual and instrumental observations are encouraged; the object was at V=12.28 on 2015 February 6.764 (OCN; S.
February 18, 2015
Event: Nova Sagittarii 2015 = PNV J18142514-2554343 [V5667 Sgr]
Discovered independently by:
- Hideo Nishimura (Shizuoka-ken, Japan)
- Koichi Nishiyama (Kurume, Japan) and Fujio Kabashima (Miyaki, Japan)
Discovery magnitude:
- Nishimura: DSLR magnitude 11.2, using 200-mm f/3.2 lens + digital camera
- Nishiyama and Kabashima: unfiltered CCD magnitude 10.9, using a 105-mm f/4 camera lens (+SBIG STL6303E camera)
